The L.A. Clippers tested their mettle on Friday night, managing to withstand an early exit from power forward Blake Griffin, but a swarming 21 first-quarter points from Gordon Hayward in a 111-106 win to take a 2-1 lead in the series.

Despite playing on the road, a large part of the Clippers' response to adversity came down to Chris Paul and yet another sublime display of game management.

Paul scored 24 of his 34 points in the second half, hitting 12-of-22 shot attempts from the field, 5-of-8 from deep and all of his eight shots from the stripe. His 10 assists, seven rebounds, and two steals played a key role in overcoming a 40-point career-high night from a red-hot Hayward.

“At some point, the game becomes about Chris Paul,” Jazz head coach Quin Snyder said. “He just puts a lot of stress on a defense. He opens up the floor from a spacing standpoint. All you can do is give him different defensive looks. He's going to eventually figure you out, when you do one thing.”

Snyder's counterpart agreed.

“CP. He was phenomenal down the stretch.” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “On both ends.”

It isn't the first or the last time Paul has been the architect behind an important playoff win, possessing the rare gift of being able to orchestrate an offense and remain the lethal shot-making weapon down the stretch — a double edged sword that most teams aren't prepared to face.

Just as importantly, the 6-foot guard's defensive pressure and anticipation is just as much of a headache for opposing ball-handlers.

“We got off to a great start,” Hayward said. “The energy was great, it was electric out there. We couldn't get stops at the end of the game. It allowed them to set their defense on us. It came down to the defensive end.”

With Griffin sidelined with a toe injury for the rest of the playoffs, now a common trend on Lob City, the Clippers games will become about Chris Paul more than ever if they are to make a deep run this postseason.