The Clippers will have some new faces on the roster in the second-to-last game before the All Star Break against the division rival Warrior.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 7 PM PT

How to Watch: TNT

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Marcus Morris Sr. – Ivica Zubac

Warriors: Jordan Poole – Klay Thompson – Andrew Wiggins – Draymond Green – Kevon Looney

Injury Report

Clippers: None

Warriors: Stephen Curry out (lower leg), Andre Iguodala out (hip), Gary Payton II out (muscle injury), Ryan Rollins out (right foot)

The Big Picture

It’s been a long time coming, but for the first time in what seems like forever, the Clippers have no injuries to report. It feels surreal and almost like something is off. It feels like there will be some unexpected twist or turn before game time, but that’s just the expectation of disappointment talking. This is a very welcome sign for Clippers fans, and very important as they get set to head into the All-Star break this weekend.

All three trade deadline additions of Eric Gordon, Mason Plumlee, and Bones Hyland will be available. It will be interesting to see how Tyrone Lue uses his lineups. Gordon mentioned on Monday how he is fully capable of filling the Clippers vacant point guard position and how with Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the lineup, how his role will pretty much be a spot up shooter. It wouldn’t be surprising if Gordon eventually moves into the starting lineup with Terance Mann moving back to a reserve role.

Plumlee will for sure see playing time as well with his skill-set and size. The one player though who will likely see himself squeezed out of the rotation is Hyland. He’s a talented player no doubt, but there’s no question that he has a lot of growing up to do and the Clippers top 8-9 players seem to be set with Robert Covington playing spot minutes.

This is the Clippers second to last game before the All-Star break and last game at home. Their final game this week is on the road against the new-look Phoenix Suns. That game is going to be tough regardless and it’s imperative that the Clippers grab one here against what will be a short-handed Golden State Warriors team.

The Antagonist

The Warriors come to town looking nothing like the team that won the title last season. They’ve been hit with injuries as well with Steph Curry expected to be sidelined until sometime after the All-Star break. They’ve been inconsistent, they can’t seem to win on the road and they’ve hovered around play-in positioning.

A lack of depth has hurt them as well. They can’t seem to find consistent minutes off the bench and Steve Kerr has used an over reliance on two-way contract guys rather than play some of the budding young talent on the roster. They even gave up on James Wiseman at the deadline.

It feels like everyone is just waiting for them to flip the switch and go on a run, but with a mere 20+ games remaining, time is running out. It increasingly looks like that might not happen.

Even so, this team has championship pedigree. Klay Thompson and Draymond Green are still out there. They’d love nothing more than to come into The Crypt and steal a game from a Clipper team that is also trying to build consistency.

The Clippers need to stay focused, and although it might not be entirely smooth due to the integration of the new players, this is a game the Clippers cannot afford to give away.

David Yapkowitz

David Yapkowitz

David is in his sixth season as credentialed media at Los Angeles Clippers games and second season covering the team for 213 Hoops. He also covers the game at the college and high school levels. When his professional basketball dreams did not materialize, he turned to the next best thing, writing about it.

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