The Clippers just dropped their biggest game of the season, and will face no letup tonight against perhaps the best team in the entire NBA, the San Antonio Spurs.
Game Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected Starting Lineups
Spurs: De’Aaron Fox – Stephon Castle – Devin Vassell – Julian Champagnie – Victor Wembanyama
Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez
Injuries
Spurs: None
Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)
The Big Picture
The Clippers did the most Clippers thing imaginable on Tuesday night, coming out super flat in the most important game of the season and getting dogwalked by the Blazers from start to finish in a demoralizing loss. The Clippers are still in 8th in the West, but now will need to win their game in Portland next week to keep that spot and stay in the top half of the play-in. The Clippers coming out as lethargic as they did on Tuesday is frankly inexcusable, and hopefully they make up for that poor effort with a strong response tonight.
The Antagonist
The Spurs have, insanely won 25 of their last 27 games (before their game last night against Golden State, as I’m writing this earlier), keeping themselves firmly in the 2 seed in the Western Conference and within arm’s length of the 1 seed despite the Thunder’s own excellence. The Spurs are led by Victor Wembanyama, who has leaped from rookie phenom to All-Star & All-Defense player to MVP candidate in three short years. Stephon Castle has exceeded all expectations in year two as well, while rookie Dylan Harper is a lock for First Team All-Rookie due to his blend of defense, efficiency, and poise. Add in strong play from vets like Fox, Vassell, Keldon Johnson, Champagnie, and Luke Kornet and you have a dynamic team that is a legitimate threat to win the championship despite being in its virtual infancy.
Notes
Playoff Preview: This game could well be a look ahead to a first-round playoff series. The Spurs are locked into the 1 or 2 seeds, and the Clippers, if they make the playoffs, will either be in the 7 or 8 seed, which would put the Spurs as a potential opponent. I wonder if both teams approach this game with a bit of a vanilla strategy to not give anything away in the event of a postseason matchup. On the other hand, both teams actually need and want to win this game, so maybe they go all out.
Standings Watch: The Suns, Warriors, and Blazers all play tonight. The Suns have a tough game on the road in Charlotte against a Hornets team that has been playing well for months and is in a tough postseason race of their own. That game seems like a toin coss, maybe with an edge to Charlotte. The Warriors have a home game against the Cavs, and are also playing on the second night of a back-to-back. The Cavs probably will be heavy favorites in that one. Finally, the Blazers are at home against the Pelicans. After a stretch of competence, the Pelicans have lost five games in a row, making the Blazers a likely victor. It’s possible the Clippers get all three results their way, but it’s more like they go “1-2” or “2-1”. Any help they can get would be welcome at this point.