The Clippers have won three games in a row, but will now face a tougher test against a potent and desperate Kings team.
Game Information
Where: Golden One Center, Sacramento, California
When: 7:00 PM PT
How to Watch: KTLA, AM 570
Tickets: For great deals on Clippers tickets, check out Barry’s Tickets!
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Kings: De’Aaron Fox – Keon Ellis – Keegan Murray – Harrison Barnes – Domantas Sabonis
Injuries
Clippers: None
Kings: Kevin Huerter Out (Shoulder), Malik Monk Out (Knee)
The Big Picture
The Clippers have won three games in a row for the first time in almost two months, since the end of the Grammy road trip in early February to be precise. Their recent wins were not against the hardest competition nor the cleanest of victories, but wins are wins, and three Ws in a row is a nice stretch regardless of opposition. The Clippers won largely through defense against the Sixers and Magic before turning on the offense (but losing the defense) against the Hornets. The question now is if the Clippers can get consistently good on both sides of the ball with the postseason looming just a few short weeks away.
The Antagonist
The Kings have received brutal injury blows in the last week, losing starting guard Kevin Huerter for the rest of the season and sixth man Malik Monk for 4-6 weeks. Monk is third on the Kings in scoring, assists, and threes made, and is the Kings’ clear second ball-handler after Fox. Huerter is having a down season but is still sixth on the team in scoring and fifth in threes. In short, the Kings are down a lot of firepower with their postseason status very much in the balance. Their two best players (Fox and Sabonis) and top wing (Murray) are still healthy, but the Kings will need to fight like hell to keep themselves in the race for the 6th and 5th seeds and out of the play-in.
Notes
No Small-Ball: The Kings’ best player is big man Domantas Sabonis, and he is the type of center who absolutely feasts on smaller players with his size and physicality. While Plumlee and Theis can probably do ok on him, Ivica Zubac has had success against Sabonis in the past and is by far the Clippers’ best option on him. Considering how much Sabonis plays, I would hope that Zu sees a ton of minutes in this one as well, just as he has in the past couple games. And, while I think small-ball could work when Sabonis is out of the game, I can’t imagine it will work while he’s playing. I’ll be curious if Ty Lue thus plays similar rotations to the past two games, or returns to Tinkering Ty.
Matchup Quirks: The Kings don’t play as fast as you might think given Fox is their point guard and Monk is their first guy off the bench, but they are still 12th in the NBA in pace compared to the Clippers at 24. The Clippers should try to keep this game slow and in the halfcourt, as their abysmal transition defense is ripe prey for the Kings. The Kings are also a decent offensive rebounding team (14ht) while the Clippers are a poor defensive rebounding team (24th). The Kings are missing two of their best shooters, so the Clippers need to limit them to one shot each trip down the floor to maximize the “math game”. If the Clippers can keep the Kings out of transition and off the offensive glass, they should win this one.
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