The Clippers face the Warriors at home in a win-or-go home game that will determine whether they get a chance at a playoff spot or start their offseason a little earlier than normal.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:00 PM PT
How to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, AM 1150
Projected Starting Lineups
Warriors: Steph Curry – Brandin Podziemski – Gui Santos – Draymond Green – Kristaps Porzingis
Clippers: Darius Garland – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Brook Lopez
Injuries
Warriors: Draymond Green Probable (Back), Quinten Post Questionable (Foot), Jimmy Butler Out (Knee), Moses Moody Out (Knee)
Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Questionable (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)
The Big Picture
The Clippers got to their 15th winning season in a row in the 82nd game of the season, but were not able to get out of the 9-10 play-in bracket. This will be the Clippers’ second time in the play-in, and the first time in the 9th spot (they were in the 7th spot in 2022, infamously losing both play-in games to fall out of the playoffs entirely). The Clippers are coming in mostly healthy, with Isaiah Jackson as the lone player on the injury report not ruled out with a season-ending injury. They have homecourt advantage, and will be against a team that is decidedly less talented than they are. But we have seen the Clippers lose to bad teams all year (outside of that one stretch in January), and the Warriors will be every bit as desperate as the Clippers. They need to come ready to fight.
The Antagonist
The Warriors have been in the play-in a few times before, and are certainly no stranger to elimination games. However, this is not the Warriors of yore. Steph has been incredible this season, but only returned recently from a long absence and is probably not 100% yet. Draymond Green has shown his age this season, finally slipping from being one of the NBA’s top defenders as he enters his mid-30s. Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala are long gone. Still, the Warriors have a stable of competent veterans and youngsters, and they can beat almost any team on the nights Curry gets hot. The Clippers just have to make sure that doesn’t happen. Easier said than done.
Notes
Who Guards Steph: The Clippers have mostly utilized Kris Dunn to guard Steph Curry since Dunn has been a Clipper, and Dunn has done as well as could be expected in that difficult assignment. However, the Clippers put Derrick Jones Jr. on Steph in the game on Sunday. Was it just to see a different look? Do they like Dunn as a roamer more since the Warriors don’t have another great scoring option? Was it just to throw the Warriors off Dunn being the primary defender on Steph again? It could be one or none of those reasons, but I thought DJ getting the Steph assignment was interesting, and I’m curious to see who takes on Steph in this one.
Bench Scoring: The Clippers won the game against the Warriors on Sunday largely due to their bench, which severely overpowered the Warriors’ reserves. Bennedict Mathurin, Jordan Miller, and even Bogdan Bogdanovic (probably won’t play tonight but still) all went off, and the Warriors just did not have many answers on defense. The Warriors play smart, connected basketball, but Mathurin and Miller should be able to get into the paint consistently against Golden State, and as long as they play calm and make the right plays, easy looks should result on offense.
Feed Kawhi: It’s a logical strategy to feed your best player in a do-or-die game, but the Clippers going to Kawhi early and often is even more obvious in this one. Without Jimmy Butler, the Warriors have no wing with the size, quickness, and strength to guard Kawhi one-on-one, or probably even bother him much. If Kawhi starts cooking, the Warriors will have to throw multiple defenders at him, and that should give the Clippers a bunch of open threes. As long as they make a good percentage of those, their offense will probably be quite potent.
