Heading into a matchup in which both teams are shorthanded, struggling, and hoping to hang around .500, the L.A. Clippers (17-17) visit the Boston Celtics (16-18) Wednesday night. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Celtics game preview.
Clippers vs. Celtics Game Information
Where: TD Garden, Boston, Massachusetts
When: 4:30 p.m. PT
How to Tune in: Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570 KLAC, KTMZ
Projected Starting Lineups:
L.A. Clippers: Eric Bledsoe – Luke Kennard – Terance Mann – Marcus Morris Sr. – Ivica Zubac
Boston Celtics: Payton Pritchard – Romeo Langford – Jaylen Brown – Al Horford – Robert Williams
Injury Report:
L.A. Clippers: Nicolas Batum – OUT (Right Ankle Sprain), Brandon Boston Jr. – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Paul George – OUT (Right Elbow UCL Tear), Isaiah Hartenstein – OUT (Left Ankle Sprain), Reggie Jackson – DOUBTFUL (Return to Competition Reconditioning), Kawhi Leonard – OUT (Right Knee; ACL – Injury Recovery), Jason Preston – OUT (Right Foot – Injury Recovery), Jay Scrubb – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Moses Wright – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols)
Boston Celtics: Bruno Fernando – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Enes Freedom – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), C.J. Miles – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Aaron Nesmith – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Dennis Schröder – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols), Marcus Smart – QUESTIONABLE (Right Hand Laceration), Jayson Tatum – OUT (Health & Safety Protocols)
The Big Picture
With Monday night’s rout at the hands of Brooklyn, the Clippers have gone from 5-1 to 1-5 in their last 12 games. The clear catalyst for the struggles has been showcased nightly on the injury report. With several core pieces for the Clippers continuing to be sidelined in addition to Paul George and Kawhi Leonard facing significant roads to recovery, LAC’s very bad injury situation to start the year has somehow gotten even worse in what unfortunately appears to be the new normal for the foreseeable future. The lack of continuity with the Clippers’ makeshift lineups was on full display last time out as James Harden surgically picked LAC apart with both his scoring and his playmaking firing on all cylinders. Although it seems Reggie Jackson, Isaiah Hartenstein, and perhaps Nicolas Batum could be unavailable for this upcoming three-game east coast trip, however, the Clippers should still have some opportunities to steal a win or two, especially tonight.
The Antagonist
The last time LAC faced Boston, the PG-less Clippers led by as much as 21 but almost threw the game as the Jaylen Brown-less Celtics scored at will inside to close. Afterward, first-year head coach Ime Udoka and co. specifically noted how disappointed they were in their 23 turnovers in the contest. Even after getting Brown back shortly after the Dec. 8 affair, however, the Celtics have been off in that regard (23rd in turnovers over their last nine games) as well as in general.
“It’s like at times, you’re trying to plug up the dam and [there’s] a different hole every night with something,” Udoka said after Boston’s loss to Minnesota sans their starters. “We’re really good at one thing and then something else creeps up on us.”
Clippers vs. Celtics Game Notes
- Scheming for JB: Looking back on the last two losses in which it mostly came down to a difference in top-tier talent, that shouldn’t be an issue tonight. As awesome as Jaylen Brown is, the one-time All-Star wing isn’t nearly as much of a playmaking threat, nor a closer as the last two alpha dogs LAC has matched up with in Harden and Nikola Jokić. This should hopefully bode well for this Clipper team that recently hasn’t been able to be on the same defensively a lot of the time with guys going in and out of the lineup.
- On-ball Juice: In Monday night’s postgame presser, it was interesting to hear Tyronn Lue admit that without Paul George and Reggie Jackson, it has been tough to figure out the team’s identity and rotations with there being a lack of another primary ball-handler besides Eric Bledsoe. Of course, having Nicolas Batum and Isaiah Hartenstein out also makes these facilitating issues even worse so it will be interesting to see once again what LAC does when Bled sits tonight.
- Deep Bench Battle: With Dennis Schröder out, this Boston team that was already pretty shallow on depth to begin the year is even more so tonight. Coming in ranked 27th in bench scoring, the Celtics should slow down offensively once Brown sits. As such, this could be another prime opportunity for Brandon Boston Jr. (now sadly in safety protocols) to get loose, or perhaps guys like Amir Coffey and Serge Ibaka.
Update: Brandon Boston Jr. is out tonight after entering health and safety protocols, per the Clippers.
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