The Clippers have lost four games in a row in increasingly depressing fashion, and will try to right the ship tonight against a solid Hawks team.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Hawks: Dyson Daniels – Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Zaccharie Risacher – Jalen Johnson – Kristaps Porzingis
Clippers: James Harden – Bradley Beal – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Hawks: Trae Young Out (Knee), Jalen Johnson Questionable (Quad), Nickeil Alexander-Walker Questionable (Back), Kristaps Porzingis Questionable (Illness), Luke Kennard Questionable (Illness), Nikola Durisic Questionable (Elbow),
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Ankle), Bradley Beal Questionable (Hip), Jordan Miller Questionable (Hamstring), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (G-League), Jahmyl Telfort Out (G-League)
The Big Picture
Through nine games, the Clippers have been one of the worst teams in the NBA. They rank a pitiful 27th on defense and a merely bad 21st on offense, putting them in a quadrant of teams like the Wizards, Nets, and Pelicans to be abysmal on both sides of the ball. They can’t take care of the basketball, they don’t rebound, they don’t make effort plays, and they don’t get enough shots up from three. Other than that? They’re doing great! Some individual players have been fine to decent, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and a lot of the parts have been bad to awful. It’s been a rough, rough watch for Clippers’ fans.
The Antagonist
The Hawks have been much the same this season as they have the past few years: thoroughly mediocre. Currently ranking 17th in Net Rating, the Hawks are 10th on defense (pretty good) and 22nd on offense (just below the Clippers, i.e. bad). Star Trae Young will be out a while with a knee injury, which boosts the Hawks’ defense but harms their offense significantly. The Hawks have real talent, especially with burgeoning star Jalen Johnson, but have a number of injury-prone players on their roster (including Johnson) and have not really coalesced at this point in the season. All that said, they still look leagues better and more organized than the disheveled Clippers.
Notes
Cam Christie Time: Clippers’ second-year guard Cam Christie played the second half of the first Suns’ loss on Thursday over a couple of the Clippers’ veterans, and was then fully in the rotation over Chris Paul and Bogdan Bogdanovic on Saturday. Christie is only 20 and basically a rookie in the NBA given how little he played last season, but has looked like he belongs. His point-of-attack defense has been solid enough, his shot still looks great, and he’s been active on the court. It’s not like he’s been dazzling, but he’s played significantly better than CP3, Bogi, or Bradley Beal, and it sure seems as though he will continue to get rotation minutes at least until Kawhi returns. Hopefully he remains a bright spot and helps the Clippers maybe win some basketball games.
The Starting Lineup Question: Ty Lue has continued to adjust his rotations amidst the Clippers’ malaise, returning to the Kris Dunn-Derrick Jones Jr. pairing on Saturday in an effort to boost the Clippers’ defense. That attempt largely failed, even though both players had their moments in the loss. The question that’s looming over the team right now is when does John Collins get his chance to start? Yes, Collins has gotten lost on defense at times and has had some sloppy plays on offense when asked to do too much. But his scoring, energy, and sheer athleticism have been boons for the Clippers, and he really should get at least a fair shake at a starting role.
