The Clippers will look to continue their winning ways at home with a contest against the tanking Nets.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 6:00 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Nets: Egor Demin – Drake Powell – Michael Porter Jr. – Noah Clowney – Nic Claxton
Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Nets: Haywood Highsmith Out (Knee), Cam Thomas Out (Ankle), Nolan Traore Out (Illness), Noah Clowney Doubtful (Back)
Clippers: Derrick Jones Jr. Out (Knee), Bogdan Bogdanovic Out (Hamstring), Bradley Beal Out (Hip), Chris Paul Out (Not with team)
The Big Picture
The Clippers are, somehow, just four games under .500 as we rapidly approach the trade deadline. They are still in 10th place in the West (with the Grizzlies and Mavs lurking behind them), but have closed the gap on the 9th place Blazers to two games (one loss), the 8th place Warriors to four games (three losses), and the 6th place Suns just 6.5 games (six losses). A true run into the playoff picture remains unlikely, but the window is still cracked open for the Clippers. The schedule is about to get much, much harder (more on that below), so the Clippers’ stacking wins in January was needed. Let’s see if they can keep that momentum going forward, especially if they’re able to remain mostly healthy during the second half of the season.
The Antagonist
After being fairly frisky for the first couple months of the season, the Brooklyn Nets (wisely) have revved up the tanking engines. The Nets have lost four in a row and nine of their last 10 to fall to the third-worst record in the East and fifth-worst in the NBA. Considering this is the last year they own their pick for several years, they were always going to tank at some point. Veterans like former Clipper Terance Mann are getting moved out of the rotation or towards the fringes in favor of prospects (the Nets are playing four rookies big minutes right now), with those vets likely to be shipped off by the trade deadline in less than two weeks’ time. Michael Porter Jr. is still starting, which means the Nets have an All-Star playing big minutes, but it’s clear they are ready to start losing a lot of games. Hopefully the Clippers can oblige.
Notes
Cleaning Up: The Clippers really need to win this game (and their following game against the Jazz on Tuesday), because the schedule is going to get real hard, real soon. After that Jazz game, 11 of the Clippers’ next 12 contests are against playoff teams, and a whole bunch of those games are on the road. The entire month of February is a gauntlet, though the All-Star Break will be huge for the old Clippers to get their legs back under them. Things lighten up again in March, but the Clippers will have to stay attached in February to keep postseason hopes alive. Winning these next two games will get the Clippers to just two games under .500 and hopefully allow some breathing room even if they string together losses in February.
Trade Target: Day’Ron Sharpe is someone I have my eyes on as a Clippers’ trade target. The 25-year-old big man has been one of the better backup centers in the league for 2.5 years now, and is on a cheap contract the Clippers could easily match with Brook Lopez or Bogi (plus some second-round picks) without giving up a first-round pick. Sharpe is an incredible offensive rebounder who would bring much-needed physicality to the Clippers’ bench unit. I don’t think he’d cost a first and is under contract with a team option for next year that would still fit into the Clippers’ cap space plan.
Paper Eating Time: Most of you reading this probably know about this, but I made a bet of sorts on Twitter that the Clippers would not go 15-3 at any point in this season. Or rather, that I’d print and eat the Tweet if they would do so. Well, if the Clippers win today they will have gone 15-3 in their last 18 games, which would make it time for me to eat paper crow. If this does happen, I’d arrange a public viewing of the eating at some time in the near future.
