The LA Clippers return to Crypto.com Arena for a home game against the LA Lakers after a fairly successful road trip in which they went 4-4 and pulled off a few impressive come from behind wins.
Game Information
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA
When: 7 p.m. PST
How to Watch: TNT
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Amir Coffey – Terance Mann – Marcus Morris Sr. – Serge Ibaka
Lakers: Russell Westbrook – Avery Bradley – Malik Monk – Stanley Johnson – Anthony Davis
Injury Report
Clippers: Paul George out (right elbow), Kawhi Leonard out (right knee), Jay Scrubb out (right foot), Jason Preston out (right foot), Ivica Zubac questionable (right calf).
Lakers: LeBron James questionable (knee), Kendrick Nunn out (knee)
The Big Picture
It’s been a little under a month since the Clippers were last at home. This road trip really taught us a lot about this team, quite frankly, they aren’t going to give up on this season. With the myriad of injuries and lineup shuffling, it would be really easy for the Clippers to punt on this season but that’s not what this team has in mind.
This team is going to be competitive and give themselves a chance no matter what. They got a very tough part of their schedule out of the way on the trip, but they still have a challenge remaining. This next stretch of games will be against quality opponents. With the exception of the Houston Rockets, out of the Clippers next 10 games starting tonight, eight of them will be against teams vying for playoff positioning.
They should probably be getting an update on the status of Paul George as it gets closer to the end of the month, but this next stretch of games will also reveal a lot about this team. If they can hold down the fort and manage to keep themselves hovering around .500 ball, they’ll be in pretty good shape for the home stretch of the season.
The Antagonist
To say the LA Lakers have been a disappointment this season is an understatement. This was a team that was expected to be at the top of the Western Conference standings and a sure-fire championship contender.
Instead, the Lakers have also been hit with a ton of injuries as well as COVID related absences. Both LeBron James and Anthony Davis have missed large portions of the season and Russell Westbrook just hasn’t had the impact the Lakers hoped for when the traded for him.
Despite that, this team is also hovering around the .500 mark and is eyeing a lower tier playoff spot probably via the play-in tournament. There is still a championship mentality in Lakerland, but it’s just a little unrealistic to assume that this team miraculously goes on a big run and shoots up in the standings these final months.
There are too many good teams in the West that have been playing consistently well and building up team chemistry. With that said, a healthy James and Davis is as good as any duo in the NBA. It would be unwise to just write them off completely. But the main difference between the 2020 championship year and this one is the pieces around those two. The role players this season just don’t seem to fit and in this league, quality depth, something the Clippers have, is key to winning.
