CHICAGO -- The Utah Jazz, the No. 1 overall seed in these weird and wacky 2021 NBA playoffs, have just been sent home.
They suffered a gruesome Game 6 elimination loss today. Mann-handled and then Mann-slaughtered by an unlikely but willing culprit.
Terance Mann.
Mann, oh Mann, in a place where legends are born, the L.A. Clippers birthed one when it was desperately needed, sending them to a first-ever Western Conference Finals while lifting the shroud of misfortune that have cursed the franchise for 51 damn years.
Starting in place of the injured Kawhi Leonard, the 24-year old Mann used the Staples Center as the stage to herald his arrival. And as they say in that Hollywood town, the performance was a box-office hit.
Mann turned out to be as deadly and efficient as the Klaw and rescued Los Angeles from a 25-point third-quarter hole by scoring 39 points on a blistering 15-of-21 shooting that included a 7-for-10 fare from 3.
Paul George added to Utah's misery by dumping 28 points, nine rebounds and seven assists to help complete one of the greatest comebacks in NBA playoffs history, flipping a 75-50 deficit into a 131-119 gem.
An awed PG-13 marveled at the unlikely 6-foot-5, 215-pound hero teammate.
"You saw a complete game from a second-year player. I mean you saw him stretch the floor. You saw him rebound, muscle his way to the basket. You saw many flashes of so many different things," George told The Associated Press.
Utah saw all of that, too.
AND THE JAZZ SIMPLY DIDN'T HAVE ANSWERS.
Employing a small-ball crew that diminished the impact of Utah's reigning Defensive Player of the Year awardee, Rudy Gobert, the Clippers, per data from The Salt Lake Tribune, had 27 attempts at the rim and mixed up that dizzying assault with 22 corner 3s.
When the madness was over, L.A. mortally wounded the Jazz with 48 of 85 made field goals (56.5 percent) while converting 20 of 39 threes (51.3 percent)
The Jazz probably didn't game-plan heavily on Mann, a Florida State alum who is a mere 48th overall pick in the second round of the 2019 NBA draft.
Here's how low Mann is in the Clippers pecking order. His salary is worth only $6.2 million for four years and the last year of that contract, which plays out in the 2022-23 season, is not even guaranteed.
If not for Mann's heroics, we would be talking about Jordan Clarkson whose 17 consecutive points in the second quarter allowed the Jazz to build a 72-50 halftime lead.
But like the rest of Utah, Clarkson, who finished with 21, was swallowed in the second half where the Clippers went on an improbable 81-47 run.
Operating on one leg, wincing and hurting for most of his 40-minute appearance, Donovan Mitchell tried to will the Jazz to a Game 7 back home at the Vivint Smart Arena on Monday.
But his 39-point outburst fell short.
The Jazz shot the ball well enough to win -- 49.4 percent from the field (42-of-85) and 47.7 percent from 3 (21-of-44).
They just couldn't keep up with the fleet-footed, sharp-shooting Clippers who blew by defenders and repeatedly canned wide open 3s off kick-outs.
As the music sours in Utah, the narrative shifts for these Clippers, who for years have toiled under the giant shadow of those mighty, purple-and-gold Lakers.
But this summer at least, the colors on the marquee are the Clips' red, black, white, silver and blue.
They long forsaken Clippers have joyfully morphed from punchline to heavyweight puncher.
Thanks to the new Mann in town.
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