The Clippers have one of their biggest games of the season tonight, a showdown against the crosstown Lakers on national television.
Game Information
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
When: 7:00 PM PT
How to Watch: ESPN, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Lakers: Austin Reaves – Luka Doncic – LeBron James – Rui Hachimura – Jaxson Hayes
Injuries
Clippers: Norm Powell Questionable (Knee), Jordan Miller Out (G-League) Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Lakers: Maxi Kleber Out (Foot)
The Big Picture
The Clippers got a much-needed win on Wednesday, though it certainly wasn’t pretty. Their victory over the Bulls was very different than most of their wins this season, as the Clippers’ offense mostly worked pretty well while their defense was shoddy. In fact, their defense was bad enough to sink them down to 3rd in the NBA after sitting at 2nd in defense for over a month. Hopefully that one game is just an outlier, because the Clippers’ defense will need to be up to its usual standard if they are going to maintain their place in the standings with their difficult upcoming schedule. Fortunately, it appears as though Norm Powell will be coming back soon, as he was upgraded to questionable for this game. Let’s hope he makes an appearance in this one.
The Antagonist
The Lakers have continued to surge, winning their last three in a row, eight of their last 10, and 15 of their last 19. They are still hanging out at 5th in the West, but are only a single loss (and two games behind) the 2nd seeded Grizzlies. Somehow, incredibly, they remain only 15th in Net Rating, with the 10th best offense and 13th ranked defense in the NBA. However, those numbers are rising, as the Lakers’ defense has been the best in the league over the past month. The Lakers have gone small since trading Anthony Davis, relying on switching and the size of their perimeter players to make up for their lack of size on the interior – and it has worked quite well. On offense, the Lakers are incredibly difficult to guard, with the three-headed monster of Luka, LeBron, and Reaves being quite dynamic and tough to contain. Sadly, the Lakers have all the makings of a very good playoff team, even if they might not have the depth or size to be a true championship caliber squad this year.
Notes
Feeding Zu: As mentioned, the Lakers’ biggest weakness is that their big man depth is… shaky. Jaxson Hayes is their starting center, and while he’s put up some big statlines on offense since the Luka trade, he’s not very good on defense outside of jumping high for blocks. When he’s not playing, the Lakers go small with one of LeBron, Rui, or Dorian Finney-Smith at center. None of those guys should be able to guard Zu consistently in the post, provided the Clippers actually feed him there! The Clippers have a bad habit of going over from Zubac even when he has good matchups, and they can’t do that in this one. Zu can have a big game in this one if the Clippers make giving him the ball a priority – and if he’s able to stick on defense when the Lakers go small and try to stretch the Clippers out.
Limiting Turnovers: Turnovers are always bad. They are particularly bad against a Lakers team with Luka Doncic and LeBron James, two of the best passers of their generation and players who are very adept at picking teams apart on the break. The Clippers’ biggest issue this season on offense outside of some shaky shooting has been their turnovers, which are too often unforced and live-ball giveaways. It’s easier said than done to not turn the ball over, but the Clippers really need to tighten up their handles and make smart passes in this one, or things could get ugly in a hurry.
