After a quick two-game road trip that didn’t go so well for the LA Clippers, they return home against the visiting San Antonio Spurs on Monday night.
Game Information
Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
When: 7:30 p.m. PST
How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Luke Kennard – Terance Mann – Justice Winslow – Ivica Zubac
Spurs: Dejounte Murray – Derrick White – Keldon Johnson – Devin Vassell – Jakob Poeltl
Injury Report
Clippers: Paul George questionable (right elbow), Serge Ibaka probable (personal reasons), Isaiah Hartenstein out (left ankle), Kawhi Leonard out (right knee), Marcus Morris Sr. out (health and safety protocols), Jason Preston out (right foot).
Spurs: Zach Collins out (left ankle), Doug McDermott (tooth infection), Devontae Cacok (G League assignment), Josh Primo (G League assignment), Joe Wisekamp (G League assignment).
The Big Picture
The Clippers had a nice little stretch of home games recently where they had three pretty impressive wins while shorthanded against the Boston Celtics, Orlando Magic, and Phoenix Suns, with the latter being one of their best performances of the season.
The two recent road games, however, weren’t that great. It would’ve been surprising if the Clippers did beat the Jazz being shorthanded against one of the best teams in the NBA. They did manage to keep the game close throughout the first half.
But against the Oklahoma City Thunder, a game that was certainly winnable, they lost off a game-winning three-point shot from former Clipper Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.
A 1-1 split would’ve been preferable and was probably the expected outcome, but instead they’ll have to regroup at home on the heels of yet a couple more roster absences.
Isaiah Hartenstein, who has been one of the biggest storylines of the season, is out with an ankle injury he sustained in the fourth quarter against the Thunder. Marcus Morris Sr., who had just begun to get into a nice groove offensively, is now in health and safety protocols.
They did get Nicolas Batum back, although he won’t start due to being on a minutes restriction. Serge Ibaka is also probable to return after being out due to personal reasons. With Batum on a minutes restriction and no Hartenstein or Morris, Ibaka’s presence could be very useful.
With a healthy frontcourt rotation, Ibaka has become the odd man out and had received a few DNP’s in a row. Ty Lue has stated that he’s spoken to Ibaka regarding the situation and that the conversations will stay between them. The Spurs game could be a situation for Ibaka to come through in a big way for the Clippers.
The Antagonist
The San Antonio Spurs are an interesting yet young team. They have some notable wins already this season against the Utah Jazz and the Golden State Warriors, and they have some not so great losses to teams like the Sacramento Kings and OKC Thunder.
Dejounte Murray has a taken a huge leap this season and is playing like a borderline All-Star. Derrick White has settled in as the starting shooting guard. They have a few other young, intriguing players such as Keldon Johnson and Lonnie Walker.
The Spurs have been in the top half of the league offensively, but in the bottom half on the defensive end, almost the opposite from the Clippers. Still, this is a team capable of pulling off big wins as they already have this season.
Notes
- Marcus Morris Sr. has become the second Clipper after Nicolas Batum to enter COVID health and safety protocols. Thankfully, Batum was okay and able to rejoin the team after testing positive and being in quarantine. Here’s hoping Morris also does not experience anything serious. Overall though, the Clippers have to this point avoided the breakouts and pauses/absences that the majority of the NBA is experiencing right now. That means the Clippers are doing something right as a whole and need to keep this caution up. Unless the NBA steps in and does something, it looks like the second half of the season might come down to which team can actually field a healthy and full roster.