The Clippers and Nets square off tonight in a game that matters little for the ailing Nets, but could be key to locking up the 2 seed for the Clippers. The game preview for this Clippers-Nets contest will be scant on Nets’ stories because all their key players are out, but the Clippers can’t take this one lightly.

Game Information

Where: Orlando Bubble, Florida

When: 6:00 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, Fox Sports Prime Ticket

Starting Lineups

Nets: Chris Chiozza – Garrett Temple – Timothe Luwawu-Cabarrot – Rodions Kurucs – Donta Hall

Clippers:Reggie Jackson – Landry Shamet – Kawhi Leonard – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Nets: Jarrett Allen Doubtful (Ankle), Joe Harris Doubtful (Groin), Caris LeVert Doubtful (Rest), Jamal Crawford Out (Hamstring)

Clippers: Montrezl Harrell Out (Not in bubble), Patrick Beverley Out (Calf), Paul George Out (Rest)

The Big Picture

The Clippers are coming off an exciting win over the Blazers, and received some good seeding news with the Nuggets beating the Jazz later on. While the Clippers haven’t looked totally cohesive in the bubble, they are fortunate in that most of their individual players have looked fairly sharp. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George have been great, JaMychal Green and Ivica Zubac have been fantastic at center, and guys like Landry Shamet and Marcus Morris have improved after rocky starts. Really, their main issue is just lack of practice time and on-court reps, and that’s something that becomes a slightly bigger issue with each game that Beverley and especially Trez miss. The Clippers will probably be fine being somewhat rusty and not at 100% execution-wise for the first round, but they will need to gear up quickly or their run will not be as deep as they want. While the Nets will probably not prove much of a challenge for the Clippers in this game, it could be a preview of playoff-type rotations if Doc wants to really start preparing the team for the playoffs in earnest.

The Antagonist

Even if you’re a pretty diehard NBA fan, you will probably only recognize one name in the Nets’ projected starting lineup (which I essentially made up): Garrett Temple. Not only are the Nets down Kyrie Irving, Kevin Durant, Spencer Dinwiddie, DeAndre Jordan, and Wilson Chandler (none of whom are in the bubble at all), but they’re also resting nearly all of their remaining NBA-level talent. Considering the Nets were one of the least talented teams in the bubble (due to the aforementioned absences), the loss of guys like Allen, Harris, and LeVert will really hurt. The Nets are a scrappy bunch, and interim coach Jacque Vaughn has done a good job with them here in Orlando, but the Clippers have about eight players on their roster better than the Nets’ best player in this one (Temple), and then probably another four who are superior to the Nets’ second-best player. Even if the Clippers limit the minutes of their key players, this one should not be close.

Notes

Resting the Stars: The Clippers rested Kawhi Leonard yesterday against the Blazers, and also took out Paul George early. If they can create a big lead against the Nets early in this one, the better, because that will enable them to rest their key players for this game as well. Then again, while injury prevention is the most important thing, those reps matter too, and with the Clippers having two full days off before their next game Wednesday, maybe Doc plays his key guys a little bit longer tonight than might be needed to get the win. Either way, hopefully they don’t have to go too hard in this one.

Rodney McGruder Winning 11th Man Role: One of the interesting developments over the first five bubble games has been the slow rise of Rodney McGruder. In the first game, Amir Coffey got minutes over Rodney, and it seemed like maybe Amir would be the fringe wing if Doc needed some energy or defense. Since then, however, Rodney’s role has grown, and he has played quite well. His energy and defense have been good, especially against smaller guards, and his floater has been on point. His hitting the game winning shot against the Blazers might not stand out too much, but for as poor of a shooter as he’s been this year, he’s still far more reliable from out there than Coffey or Terance Mann. That combined with his veteran experience means that he will probably be the next guard up if the Clippers are dealing with injury or foul trouble. Good for Rodney for turning things around a bit here in Orlando.

Reggie Jackson in Transition: Reggie Jackson has slipped somewhat in the bubble, with Clippers fans coming off the high that they had from his original handful of games before the shutdown. While Reggie has continued to score, his efficiency has waned severely, and he’s shown massive limitations as a playmaker and defender. However, perhaps his greatest area of weakness is in transition. I’m not sure I’ve ever seen an NBA point guard make so many poor decisions running a fastbreak – Reggie’s default mode seems to be to charge headlong into the paint and throw up a wild shot regardless of who is there. These most often result in misses which then turn into fastbreaks going the other way. While Reggie’s defense is a problem, if he could just straighten out the little things like this, the bigger issues maybe wouldn’t look quite so daunting.

Standings Watch: Lucas’ rooting interests has far more detailed information on the Western Conference seeding race, but suffice to say that this game is important. If the Clippers get the win, they will have the 2 seed in the Western Conference nearly locked up. This not only keeps them away from the Lakers in the 1 seed, but it also sets them up with a Mavericks team that they match up excellently with. If Houston stays out of the 3 or 6 seeds, the Clippers will have ticked all the boxes, and should be nicely prepared for a run to the Western Conference Finals.

Well, that’s it for this Clippers vs Nets game preview! While you’re here, be sure to check out Cole Huff’s article on Paul George, and Vijay Vemu’s article on the sixth man of the year race.

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