It’s hard to say any road game in the NBA is truly a gimme, but serious teams should beat the tanking Wizards, and the Clippers have looked like a serious team for close to a month.
Game Information
Where: Capital One Arena, Washington, DC
When: 12:00 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kobe Sanders – John Collins – Ivica Zubac
Wizards: Bub Carrington – Tre Johnson – Khris Middleton – Kyshawn George – Alex Sarr
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Derrick Jones Jr. Out (Knee), Bogdan Bogdanovic Out (Hamstring), Bradley Beal Out (Hip), Chris Paul Out (Not with team)
Wizards: Trae Young Out (Quad), Cam Whitmore Out (Shoulder), Bilal Coulibaly Questionable (Back), Tristan Vukcevic Questionable (Knee)
The Big Picture
The Clippers pulled off maybe their best team win of the season on Friday night, eking out a gritty overtime victory on the road over the Raptors despite missing over half of their preseason rotation (to be fair, the Raptors were also missing several key guys). The Clippers received several strong performances from young guys, notably Jordan Miller, Kobe Sanders, and Cam Christie. The Clippers’ finally getting young guys who can provide rotation minutes right when a bunch of their veterans got injured or fell off a cliff is either cruelly ironic or extremely fortuitous if you’re thinking glass half empty or full. None of the Clippers’ young guys look like stars, but having at least some cheap, young-ish rotation players on the roster is somewhat of a balm for a disappointing season.
The Antagonist
The Wizards had a stretch of competence in late December and early January, but that has quickly been put behind them, as they’ve lost six games in a row and are embracing the tank. To be fair, the Wizards nearly won their last game on Saturday against the surging Nuggets… but found a way to lose nonetheless. The Clippers just saw the Wizards last week, and even short-handed they should be able to pick up a win on the road.
Notes
Kawhi Out: Yesterday morning Chris Haynes reported that Kawhi would be sent home the last two days of the road trip due to a troublesome knee. This report was quickly followed up by an official statement from the Clippers saying more or less the same thing. The initial reaction from Clippers (and general NBA fans, honestly) was to panic. Quite frankly, it’s hard to say that panic isn’t justified when it comes to Kawhi and mysterious injuries, especially lower body injuries. That said, there’s been no indication so far of anything more serious – just a contusion followed by soreness. Even if there is no structural damage, the Clippers will likely keep Kawhi out as long as he’s feeling any sort of serious discomfort in his knee, and for good reason. So, this is bad for the short-term, and maybe even medium-term if Kawhi sits a handful of games, but right now there’s no need to think this is a long-term issue. That can always change, however. Hopefully it’s nothing major.
