The Clippers try to get revenge on the Thunder after their loss on Tuesday, but will have to do so without star wing Paul George.
Game Information
Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: NBA TV, Bally Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Thunder: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander – Lu Dort – Josh Giddey – Jalen Williams – Jaylin Williams
Clippers: Russell Westbrook – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Thunder: Chet Holmgren Out (Foot), Kenrich Williams Out (Wrist)
Clippers: Paul George Out (Knee), Norman Powell Out (Shoulder), Brandon Boston Jr. Out (Tailbone), Moussa Diabate Out (G-League), Jason Preston Out (G-League), Xavier Moon Out (G-League)
The Big Picture
The Clippers find themselves in a remarkably worse place than they were 48 hours ago. Paul George will be re-evaluated in 2-3 weeks with a knee sprain, just about eliminating him from returning during the regular season, and quite possibly eating into the postseason as well. Honestly, considering how the knee looked when the injury occurred on Tuesday night, that outcome is about as positive as possible. Still, the Clippers are just one loss ahead of the play-in – and two ahead of being out of the postseason entirely. Their schedule to end the year isn’t too hard, but without George (and Norm Powell, for at least a bit more), they will need to really put in maximum effort to scrape by. Dreams of a top-4 seed are more or less gone; placing out of the play-in would be great.
The Antagonist
I wrote about the Thunder for Tuesday’s game and their team is still the same as it was then, so there’s not a whole lot more to say. Their win catapulted them to 7th in the West, and the Thunder are now just a stones throw away from the Clippers at 5. At 8-2 in their last 10 games, the Thunder are surging, and have all the momentum down the stretch of the season.
Notes
Next Man Up: Ty Lue will be down to eight of his top 10 players with George and Powell out, and it will be interesting who he puts as the 9th man. Top money would have Robert Covington, who played last night in the 4th after George’s injury, and was a key rotation piece last week when Kawhi was out on a back-to-back. However, RoCo was bad last night (plopping him into the 4th quarter of a tight game after siting all game didn’t help) and isn’t really a positional replacement for George. There’s a chance Bones Hyland or Amir Coffey gets the call instead, though both of them (especially Coffey) have been buried so deep I’d still lean with RoCo as the 9th guy.
Plumlee’s Defense: While Mason Plumlee has been as advertised as a rebounder, and has mostly played well on offense, his defense has left something to be desired. The Thunder were unafraid to attack the Clippers at the basket with him on the court, and he’s not nimble enough to defend on the perimeter either. While I think he should be in the rotation against most teams, I’m a bit surprised that the Clippers haven’t tried their small-ball second units again, especially with larger guards now in Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon, and Paul George off the bench to shore up the Nico-RoCo backline. The Clippers will certainly go small in certain playoff series, but I wish they’d get some reps in during the regular season too.
