The Clippers complete their two-game road set against the Memphis Grizzlies, who will be getting huge reinforcements after losing to the Clippers on Wednesday.
Game Information
Where: Fed Ex Forum, Memphis, Tennessee
When: 5:00 PM PT
How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: Russell Westbrook – Eric Gordon – Kawhi Leonard – Nicolas Batum – Ivica Zubac
Grizzlies: Ja Morant – Desmond Bane – Dillon Brooks – Jaren Jackson Jr. – Xavier Tillman
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Personal), Paul George Out (Knee), Marcus Morris Out (Illness), Brandon Boston Out (Tailbone)
Grizzlies: Brandon Clarke Out (Achilles), Steven Adams Out (Knee)
The Big Picture
The Clippers have finally created a small amount of separation, as they’re two games ahead of the 7th seed Timberwolves for a full playoff spot, and four games ahead of the Mavericks for the last play-in spot. In short, unless they truly fumble the bag, as it were, they should at least make the play-in, and at this point the top half of the play-in (7th or 8th seed) is probably their floor unless a lot of things go wrong. At this point, escaping the play-in would be a huge win, regardless of which of the 4, 5, or 6 seeds the Clippers end up in. Two more wins, getting the Clippers to 43, should be enough for one of those slots. Once it’s even closer to the end of the season, with two or three games left, the Clippers can start worrying about seeding and whether they want to try to maneuver their way to 6 to avoid the Nuggets in the second round and Suns or Warriors in the first. For now, it’s win, win, win.
The Antagonist
The Grizzlies have a two-game lead on the Kings for the 2 seed, but the Kings aren’t going to go away, so the pressure is on for the Grizzlies to secure the second-best record in the conference. The Grizzlies are going to be even more out for blood considering the Clippers ended a lengthy home winning streak. While the Clippers might have a key piece out for this one (more on that below), the Grizzlies that play tonight won’t resemble those that played Wednesday. Jaren Jackson Jr. and Desmond Bane, their second and third best players, will be available after missing Wednesday’s game, as will key reserves Tyus Jones and John Konchar. The Grizzlies will still be down big men Adams and Clarke, but they’ve been very good with this group, and the Clippers are going to need to play far better defense to win this one.
Notes
Kawhi or No Kawhi: Kawhi Leonard is questionable for this game after missing Wednesday’s game due to personal reasons. The tricky thing is that the Clippers have a game Saturday as well, against the Pelicans, and because the Pelicans are a threat to catch the Clippers, that game is more important. I remain skeptical that Kawhi will play in back-to-backs after missing them all year, so I’m interested if he plays in this one even if he is “available”. On the other hand, the Pelicans game will be the second game of the back-to-back, is the third game in four nights, and involves travel against a rested team at home, so maybe the Clippers would actually be better suited to try to win the Grizzlies game and then accept the L against the Pelicans. If the Clippers go down big against the Grizzlies they might throw in the towel early. Conversely, if the game is close, they might push really hard to win. Kawhi’s presence could show the Clippers’ hand a bit, though there is the possibility he does play both games.
Who’s In the Rotation: If Kawhi does play, the Clippers will presumably shift Terance Mann back to the bench. With Norm Powell back, that means, those two and Mason Plumlee are locks as reserves. Ty Lue has generally gone with a 9-man rotation, leaving one spot left. Positional needs would seem to favor Robert Covington, but Ty Lue’s distrust of playing RoCo has been apparent all year – and Bones Hyland has been tremendous over the past few games. Honestly, I’d play both and stretch the rotation to 10 players, especially considering the back-to-back and the age of the Clippers roster, but Ty Lue has not done that much this year. I’d guess Bones will be in that 9th man spot, but it will be awfully hard to bench RoCo after his last outing. Ty has done it all year though, so who knows.
