The Clippers’ home stint continues, and the team gets further welcome news with the returns of Bennedict Mathurin and John Collins.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Raptors: Immanuel Quickley – RJ Barrett – Brandon Ingram – Scottie Barnes – Jakob Poeltl
Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez
Injuries
Raptors: Brandon Ingram Questionable (Heel), Jakob Poeltl Questionable (Back), Immanuel Quickley Questionable (Foot)
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Ankle), Jordan Miller Questionable (Back), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)
The Big Picture
The Clippers have won two games in a row after dropping four in a row, getting back to a .500 record as well as reclaiming the 8 seed. They are just a half-game up on the Blazers and two games ahead of the Warriors while trailing the Suns by four games – the key now is to maintain their spot in 8 so they are in the top half of the play in tournament. The good news for the Clippers is that a lot of their key players continue to play well, especially Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard. Garland feels like he can’t miss from three, and the Clippers can hopefully ride the hot shooting streaks of their stars on a nice run to close the season and build momentum going into the postseason. One thing to look out for is the Clippers’ defense, which has been inconsistent at best for weeks, and really should be better considering the overall makeup of their roster.
The Antagonist
Despite being a top five team in the East almost the entire season, the Raptors’ hold on a playoff spot is precarious with 10 games to go. They still sit at the 5th seed currently, but are just a half-game up on the Hawks in 6th – and somehow just three games ahead of the Hornets down at 10th. Three games is honestly a lot at this point of the season, but seeds 5-10 are all in play for the Raptors, which means each game is monumental for them. Scottie Barnes has had an awesome season on defense, and the rest of the Raptors’ key players outside of Barrett and Poeltl have been quite healthy this year, which explains their strong record despite just decent talent. The Raptors have won games on defense (7th ranked on that end for the year), and the Clippers will definitely face some challenges in scoring consistently on them. The Raptors’ offense is only ok, so if the Clippers come out with focus, they should be able to keep the Raptors from putting up a ton of points.
Notes
Clippers, Almost Healthy: The Clippers are so close to a clean injury sheet (not counting YKN and Beal who are out for the year). Bennedict Mathurin is off the injury report after missing the last four games. John Collins is back as well after a one-game absence. Kawhi is still on there with his ankle, but that seems like maintenance. The new injury that’s popped up is Jordan Miller’s back, but he’s questionable so hopefully the issue is not serious. Fingers crossed the Clippers have their whole contingent tonight, both because the Raptors are a tough out and because the Clippers need as many games as possible to figure out their rotations. Ten games is not much time to determine healthy rotations, but that’s all Ty Lue will have between the midseason additions and all the injuries. At this point, it is what it is.