The Clippers should be refreshed coming out of the All Star break, but will have a tough first game against their long-time foe, the Denver Nuggets.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Nuggets: Jamal Murray – Jalen Pickett – Christian Braun – Cam Johnson – Nikola Jokic
Clippers: Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez
Injuries
Nuggets: Aaron Gordon Out (Hamstring), Peyton Watson Out (Hamstring), Jalen Pickett Probable (Knee)
Clippers: Darius Garland Out (Toe), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)
The Big Picture
The Clippers move into the final third of the season situated snugly in a tie for 9th in the Western Conference with the Portland Trailblazers. There’s not a ton of mobility in the Clippers’ situation: they are way ahead of the 11th seed Grizzlies (who are tanking) and 12th seed Mavericks (tanking even harder), and 5.5 games behind the 7th seed Suns. Really, their realistic range for the rest of the season is somewhere between 8 and 10, with the Warriors at the 8th seed looking somewhat vulnerable. Still, the Blazers are going to be trying to win too, and are healthier now than they’ve been all season. Hopefully the Clippers can get as high as 8, but they will almost certainly make the postseason barring a true disaster.
The Antagonist
The Denver Nuggets have had a bit of an odd season, entering the season as one of the favorites in the West and gaining even more respect due to the breakouts of some of their young guys, but also gathering doubters due to the health issues of third-best player Aaron Gordon. Still, Cam Johnson and Christian Braun appear healthy after lengthy injury absences, as those two plus Nikola Jokic and first-time All-Star Jamal Murray is plenty of firepower regardless. Sitting at 3rd in the West, Denver is 3.5 games back of San Antonio and 6.5 back of Oklahoma City, so it will be a tough challenge for them to move up in the standings. Another potential reason to be skeptical is that several teams are not far behind them – the Timberwolves, Lakers, and Rockets are all close by. That said, while the Nuggets aren’t my pick to win the championship, they are a pretty logical one due to the overwhelming power of Jokic and Denver’s newfound depth.
Notes
No Garland: Clippers’ fans hopeful that the team’s new star acquisition would be available after the All-Star Break were let down hard today with the news that Darius Garland will miss this game as well as tomorrow’s contest against the Lakers and is week-to-week. Law Murray of the Athletic has said Garland’s likely debut is in March, meaning he will miss a handful more games. I’m not all that stressed about the standings, but I really want to see Garland play with the Clippers’ young cadre of players including Bennedict Mathurin, Yanic Konan Niederhauser, Kobe Sanders, and Jordan Miller, and it’s a bummer he’s not ready to go yet.
