The Clippers need to shake off their disappointing loss to the Bulls quickly, as tonight they take on one of the very best teams in the NBA, the Celtics, while playing quite shorthanded.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Celtics: Derrick White – Jrue Holiday – Jaylen Brown – Jayson Tatum – Kristaps Porzingis
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Mo Bamba
Injuries
Celtics: Drew Peterson Doubtful (Concussion)
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee management), Ivica Zubac Out (Eye), James Harden Questionable (Groin), Kris Dunn Questionable (Knee), Nic Batum Questionable (Finger), Norm Powell Questionable (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team)
The Big Picture
The Clippers’ loss to the Bulls on Monday was one of the more frustrating of the year. On one hand, they were playing on the second night of a back-to-back and didn’t have the services of Kawhi Leonard or Ivica Zubac. On the other, they were at home playing a thoroughly mediocre Bulls team without multiple key players of their own that was also on the second night of a back-to-back. And not only did the Clippers lose, but the game wasn’t really even in question the last 18 minutes or so, as the Clippers could not get the game to single digits. There were issues with Ty Lue’s rotations, James Harden was awful, and nobody could hit a shot. Aside from that, things were rosy! It was just a single game, but it was a dreadful, miserable game to watch and dampened the spirits of the four-game win streak. Hopefully the Clippers show up in a much better way tonight.
The Antagonist
The narrative around the Celtics in recent weeks is that they are having a disappointing season. They have had a couple rough patches, but right now they have a 30-13 record, putting them on pace for close to 60 wins. Their Net Rating backs up their raw record, with their plus 9.7 Net Rating putting them squarely in “title contender” territory and just a hair behind the East-leading Cavaliers. On top of that, the Celtics are the only team in the NBA that is top-five on both offense (3rd) and defense (5th), though the Thunder and Grizzlies aren’t far off. Multiple Celtics (Jaylen Brown and Jrue Holiday) are having down seasons and others (Kristaps Porzingis) can’t seem to get healthy, but Jayson Tatum is one of the 10 best players in the NBA and the Celtics’ depth has mostly held up quite well. They aren’t unbeatable with their three-point shooting dip from last year, but they are still one of the three best teams in the league.
Notes
A Big Test for Kawhi: Kawhi Leonard has played in five games so far this season, and none of them has been against a team close to as good as the Celtics. The best of the teams he’s faced is the Timberwolves, and it’s perhaps not a surprise that game was his worst performance. The Celtics are an excellent team that can test Kawhi on both ends and have multiple players that can credibly stick with him on defense. I would suspect his minutes limit remains in the 24-minute range, but maybe he gets pushed up another couple minutes. Regardless, I’m very interested to see how he looks in this one. If he has a game similar to the caliber of his Nets and Lakers performances, my eyebrows will be raised, for sure. EDIT: Well, Kawhi is out, so all of this point is moot for this game – but long-term I stand by it.
Going Small: Look, there have been years where Ty Lue’s propensity to go small has driven me insane. But this season would not be one of them. Mo Bamba’s box score from the Bulls game looks ok, but it’s a great example of how box scores do not capture impact or level of play. Put simply, Bamba is a third center. If you need to roll him out for a few minutes he will probably not mess anything up too badly. And he’s fine against the dregs of the league (Nets, Blazers, etc.) But he’s just not a rotation-level player against even competent teams. If Zu is out again, he has to play, but I’d start small with Nic Batum at center and keep Bamba to the 12-14 minute range and against bench units. Nico can’t play 36 minutes as small-ball center, so I’d try other units with Kawhi at center (Edit, with Kawhi out I’d say Kobe Brown even) alongside Derrick Jones Jr. and Terance Mann or Kris Dunn at small forward to add more defense and rebounding. Anything but extensive Mo Bamba minutes in key moments.
