This is just a thread to comment about the happenings on the first day of the NBA Draft, which is round one. The Clippers have the 5th pick in the draft, and there’s still no certainty as to who will be the pick this evening.

Outside of the 5th pick, there’s a chance the Clippers do something else on draft day, with the biggest move being a Kawhi Leonard trade. There is also the possibility of trading other veterans for picks, with Derrick Jones Jr. the next most likely suspect. I’d say chances of those sorts of trades are low-ish, though certainly possible.

Leave your comments below!

2026 NBA Draft: First Round Thread
Robert Flom

The Clippers face the Warriors at home in a win-or-go home game that will determine whether they get a chance at a playoff spot or start their offseason a little earlier than normal.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: Amazon Prime Video, AM 1150

Projected Starting Lineups

Warriors: Steph Curry – Brandin Podziemski – Gui Santos – Draymond Green – Kristaps Porzingis

Clippers: Darius Garland – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Warriors: Draymond Green Probable (Back), Quinten Post Questionable (Foot), Jimmy Butler Out (Knee), Moses Moody Out (Knee)

Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Questionable (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

The Big Picture

The Clippers got to their 15^th winning season in a row in the 82^nd game of the season, but were not able to get out of the 9-10 play-in bracket. This will be the Clippers’ second time in the play-in, and the first time in the 9^th spot (they were in the 7^th spot in 2022, infamously losing both play-in games to fall out of the playoffs entirely). The Clippers are coming in mostly healthy, with Isaiah Jackson as the lone player on the injury report not ruled out with a season-ending injury. They have homecourt advantage, and will be against a team that is decidedly less talented than they are. But we have seen the Clippers lose to bad teams all year (outside of that one stretch in January), and the Warriors will be every bit as desperate as the Clippers. They need to come ready to fight.

The Antagonist

The Warriors have been in the play-in a few times before, and are certainly no stranger to elimination games. However, this is not the Warriors of yore. Steph has been incredible this season, but only returned recently from a long absence and is probably not 100% yet. Draymond Green has shown his age this season, finally slipping from being one of the NBA’s top defenders as he enters his mid-30s. Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala are long gone. Still, the Warriors have a stable of competent veterans and youngsters, and they can beat almost any team on the nights Curry gets hot. The Clippers just have to make sure that doesn’t happen. Easier said than done.

Notes

Who Guards Steph: The Clippers have mostly utilized Kris Dunn to guard Steph Curry since Dunn has been a Clipper, and Dunn has done as well as could be expected in that difficult assignment. However, the Clippers put Derrick Jones Jr. on Steph in the game on Sunday. Was it just to see a different look? Do they like Dunn as a roamer more since the Warriors don’t have another great scoring option? Was it just to throw the Warriors off Dunn being the primary defender on Steph again? It could be one or none of those reasons, but I thought DJ getting the Steph assignment was interesting, and I’m curious to see who takes on Steph in this one.

Bench Scoring: The Clippers won the game against the Warriors on Sunday largely due to their bench, which severely overpowered the Warriors’ reserves. Bennedict Mathurin, Jordan Miller, and even Bogdan Bogdanovic (probably won’t play tonight but still) all went off, and the Warriors just did not have many answers on defense. The Warriors play smart, connected basketball, but Mathurin and Miller should be able to get into the paint consistently against Golden State, and as long as they play calm and make the right plays, easy looks should result on offense.

Feed Kawhi: It’s a logical strategy to feed your best player in a do-or-die game, but the Clippers going to Kawhi early and often is even more obvious in this one. Without Jimmy Butler, the Warriors have no wing with the size, quickness, and strength to guard Kawhi one-on-one, or probably even bother him much. If Kawhi starts cooking, the Warriors will have to throw multiple defenders at him, and that should give the Clippers a bunch of open threes. As long as they make a good percentage of those, their offense will probably be quite potent.

Clippers vs Warriors: Play In Preview
Robert Flom

The Clippers will close their rollercoaster 2026 season against the rival Golden State Warriors in a contest that is probably meaningless but that they need to try to win just in case the Blazers drop their game at the same time.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 5:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, KTLA, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Warriors: Steph Curry – Brandin Podziemski – Gui Santos – Draymond Green – Kristaps Porzingis

Clippers: Darius Garland – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Warriors: Steph Curry Probable (Ankle), Seth Curry Questionable (Adductor), Quinten Post Doubtful (Foot), Jimmy Butler Out (Knee), Moses Moody Out (Knee)

Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

The Big Picture

The Clippers, perhaps fittingly, were thoroughly outplayed by the Blazers on Friday night in the most important game of the season for either team. The Blazers were quicker, bigger, more energetic, and more forceful despite being a younger and more inexperienced team than the veteran-laden Clippers. The Clippers’ center issues were also apparent; they got a monster game from Brook Lopez, but were blitzed in the bench minutes with John Collins and Nic Batum at center. The Clippers didn’t really have much of a chance of any kind of postseason run even with Yanic Konan Niederhauser and Isaiah Jackson healthy, but without them, the only center on the roster being the limited Lopez makes it tough for this team to get anything going inside. Ultimately, this season can be broken down into three segments: the horrendous 6-21 start, the incredible 20-7 turnaround midseason, and the mediocre 15-12 close. And now, at the end, they are who they are – a middling .500 team.

The Antagonist

The Warriors have had a season every bit as disastrous as the Clippers. The Warriors were also expected to be a highly competitive playoff team after making the second round last year and reloading much of their same roster, but the season-ending injury to Jimmy Butler and an extended second-half absence from Steph Curry doomed them to a below-.500 season and a 10^th seed. Like the Clippers, the Warriors have some nice young players (Podziemski, Santos, Moses Moody, Quinten Post, Will Richard) but no obvious blue-chip prospects, and are heavily invested in an aging and injury-prone core. The big difference is the Warriors have all of their own picks, and it certainly seems like they will go after big fish this offseason. But, for right now, they are just a meh 10^th seed that has no hopes of a playoff run even if they do make it through the play-in tournament.

Notes

Winning Record Streak on the Line: The Clippers have had a winning record for 14 seasons in a row, by far the longest ongoing streak in the NBA. Their last season below .500 was all the way back in 2010-2011, Blake Griffin’s rookie season, when they went 32-50. The Clippers have had two seasons since where they’ve barely sneaked out winning records at 42-40 (in 2017-18 and 2021-22), and it would be a point of pride for them to get to that mark this year with a win. Even if nothing else is on the line, that franchise record is a really cool mark that I want the team to keep going.

Go Kings Go: The only way this game matters in the actual standings is if the Kings beat the Blazers, as in that case the Clippers would tie the Blazers at 42-40 and move to 8^th through tiebreakers. The Blazers will be playing at home and the Kings have nothing to play for, but they’ve been surprisingly frisky in recent weeks, so the chances of them winning aren’t quite zero. The Clippers have to hope the Kings are feisty again tomorrow and don’t lean as far into the tank as some other teams have done recently (the Grizzlies played 5.5 players in their loss on Friday).

Clippers vs Warriors Preview: Last Game of the Season
Robert Flom

Ten days after the Clippers lost the most important game of their season to that point, they play the same opponent again, the Portland Trailblazers, in what is by far their most meaningful regular season game of the year.

Game Information

Where: Moda Center, Portland, Oregon

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Darius Garland – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Brook Lopez

Blazers: Scoot Henderson – Jrue Holiday – Toumani Camara – Deni Avdija – Donovan Clingan

Injuries

Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

Blazers: Shaedon Sharpe Questionable (Fibula), Jerami Grant Doubtful (Calf), Vit Krejci Doubtful (Calf), Damian Lillard Out (Achilles)

The Big Picture

The Clippers followed up a huge win against the Mavs on Tuesday night with a dud against the (admittedly awesome) Thunder on Wednesday. The Clippers have been mediocre for almost an entire month now, as they’ve gone 7-7 since March 13 (they went 7-1 during the first two weeks of March) with all but one of their wins coming against tanking teams. This is the team I expected to see after the Harden and Zu trades: talented, but with some overlapping pieces and a serious weak spot at the center position. I’d like to see them make the playoffs, as I think it would be great experience for their young guys and would just be a positive outcome for the season, but any hopes of them pulling an upset have faded in the past four weeks.

The Antagonist

The Blazers have gone 9-5 in that same stretch since March 13, but just like the Clippers, nearly all of their wins have come against tanking teams: the Jazz, Nets, Pacers, Nets again, Bucks, Wizards, and Pelicans. Thus, it’s hard to say they’re playing that much better of late than the Clippers, though they did of course stomp the Clips last week in Inglewood. Jrue Holiday and Deni Avdija led the charge for the Blazers in that one, as they have basically all year, and the Clippers will need to do better jobs defending those guys if they’re going to pull off this win. In the middle Donovan Clingan has a big advantage against Brook Lopez, but unfortunately there’s not much the Clips can do about that right now.

Notes

Standings Watch Over: The Clippers are locked into the 8 or 9 seeds, as the Warriors are now locked into the 10 seed and the Suns are stuck at 7. If the Clippers win this game tonight, they will be the 8 seed. If they lose, they will have to win their last game of the season (against a Warriors team that will probably be resting guys) and the Blazers will have to lose their last game (against a Kings team with nothing to play for) to be 8. Thus, tonight’s game will more or less decide the 8 seed, which is a huge deal, as it means the Clippers could play the Spurs if they win the 7-8 matchup, and then have a second game to make the playoffs even if they lose. The 9 seed would be bad, as it’s one loss away from the offseason and even a win doesn’t guarantee the playoffs.

Rotation Check: This game is essentially a play-in game in its own right, and I’m very curious to see how Ty Lue handles rotations. Does he play nine guys in the rotation, like he did against the Mavs on Tuesday? Does Kobe Sanders get cut or significantly reduced in the rotation to give more minutes to the Clippers’ veterans? Do we see Kawhi crack the 40 minute mark? How much does Brook Lopez play? These are all questions I’m thinking about for tonight, which is a must win.

Clippers vs Blazers Preview: Biggest Game of the Season, Again
Robert Flom

The Clippers got back in the win column on Sunday, but face a somewhat tougher test against the tanking-but-still-trying Dallas Mavericks.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Mavericks: Max Christie – Cooper Flagg – Naji Marshall – PJ Washington  – Dwight Powell

Clippers: Darius Garland – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Mavericks: Dereck Lively Out (Foot), Kyrie Irving Out (Knee), Daniel Gafford Doubtful (Shoulder), Marvin Bagley Questionable (Shoulder), Caleb Martin Doubtful (Heel), Brandon Williams Questionable (Illness)

Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

The Big Picture

The Clippers’ win over the Kings on Sunday was rather anticlimactic in a good way, as the Clips pulled ahead in the 2^nd quarter and never looked back in a mostly wire-to-wire win. It’s hard to take much away from a win over a tanking and horrendous Kings team, but the Clippers had the right energy and focus to put the game away early, which was nice, and nobody else got injured during the contest, which is even better. We are truly in the final stretches of the regular season now; every win counts, and every injury for a postseason team can range from irritating to catastrophic.

The Antagonist

The Mavericks came into this season with postseason aspirations as well, but have been on the tank train for months now. They are sitting fewer of their key players than other tanking teams: Cooper Flagg is playing due to the tight Rookie of the Year race, but so are other legit veteran guys like PJ Washington and Naji Marshall. If the Mavs don’t play Gafford or Bagley they will get very small, which is of benefit to the Clippers, but they have good wing talent and play hard. This is a game the Clippers should win, of course, but it’s much less of a gimme than the Kings game was.

Notes

Standings Watch: If the Clippers win tonight it will be impossible for them to fall to 10, which is a good thing because the Warriors play at home against the Kings tonight in what should be an easy win for Golden State. Meanwhile, the Suns host the Rockets on national TV in what is a big game for both sides, as the Rockets are fighting to hang onto the 5 seed or maybe even more into 4 while the Suns are trying to clinch 7 and keep their slim hope for 6 alive. If the Suns lose and the Clippers win, the Clips will move to just two games back of Phoenix for 7, giving them at least a chance to catch the Suns. A combination of Suns win and Clippers loss would lock the Clippers out of the 7 seed.

Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Season Winding Down
Robert Flom

The Clippers have lost two critical games in a row, and have a golden chance to turn things around in a get-right game against the woeful Kings.

Game Information

Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento, California

When: 6:00 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, KTLA, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez

Kings: Devin Carter – Nique Clifford – DeMar DeRozan – Precious Achiuwa – Maxime Raynaud

Injuries

Clippers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Ankle), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

Spurs: Domantas Sabonis Out (Knee), Zach LaVine Out (Hand), DeAndre Hunter Out (Eye), Russell Westbrook Out (Toe), Drew Eubanks Out (Thumb), Keegan Murray Out (Ankle), Isaiah Stevens Out (Ankle)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have had multiple days off for the first time in a long time, and those rest days were desperately needed after back-to-back awful losses to the Blazers and Wemby-less Spurs. The Clippers looked rather discombobulated on most fronts in those two defeats, with early-season habits like awful turnovers and slow transition defense coming to bite them. The loss of Isaiah Jackson and Yanic Konan Nierderhauser has loomed large, as Brook Lopez has been forced to play a lot of minutes and the Clippers have had to go small when he doesn’t play – unlike Clippers’ rosters of yore, this team is not built to play small-ball. Hopefully Jackson can return before the postseason, because if not, this team’s already limited chances of a run diminish by a real margin. A big win tonight against a moribund Kings team could at least help the Clippers get some momentum the last few games of the NBA season heading into the postseason.

The Antagonist

The Kings can’t get out of their own way. Having possessed the worst or second-worst record in the NBA for nearly the entire season, a late “surge” (they’re 4-6 in their last 10 games and have won their last two) have propelled them “up” to a tie for the fourth-worst record in the league. The flattened lottery odds mean even the 4^th or 5^th worst team has a pretty good chance of winning the lottery, but the chance of the Kings dropping all the way down to 7 or 8 is about as grim as it gets for a fanbase that has seen little in the way of good fortune in two decades. At least this season hasn’t been a total lost cause: rookie Maxime Raynaud looks like a pretty legit NBA player, and fellow rookies Nique Clifford and Dylan Cardwell might stick around too. Outside of that though, it’s been a brutal season for the Kings, who were not able to get value for any of their veteran players.

Notes

Standings Watch: The Suns and Warriors are at the periphery of tracking for the Clippers’ seeding purposes – it’s now very, very unlikely that they climb to 7 or fall to 10. That said, there’s still a chance. The Suns play in Chicago early this afternoon in a game that they will likely win. The Bulls are still playing a number of their actual players, but have been very bad since they All-Star Break when they blew up their team, and even on the road the Suns should be able to clean them up. Conversely, the Warriors are playing at home against the Rockets, who are a better team and have won five in a row. The Warriors are getting Steph Curry back for what should be a raucous crowd, but Steph will likely be rusty after having missed a couple months with injury, and the Rockets should be overwhelming favorites. A Clippers’ win plus Warriors’ loss would all but clinch the Clippers’ being a top-nine seed in the West.

Clippers vs Kings Preview: Please Win This One
Robert Flom

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 8^th 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.

Clippers vs Spurs Preview: The Toughest Game Left on the Calendar
Robert Flom

It’s Game 76 of the NBA season for the Clippers, and it’s also their most important, as they square off against the team directly behind them in the standings, the Portland Trailblazers.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 8:00 PM PT

How to Watch: NBC, Peacock, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Blazers: Scoot Henderson – Jrue Holiday – Deni Avdija – Toumani Camara – Donovan Clingan

Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Blazers: Jerami Grant Out (Calf), Shaedon Sharpe Out (Calf), Damian Lillard Out (Achilles), Vit Krejci Out (Calf)

Clippers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have won five games in a row, reaching three games over .500 for the first time this season. It’s been a remarkable turnaround for a group that started the season 6-21 and looked every bit that bad. Of course, who is playing on a nightly basis is almost completely different from those dog days of November. Darius Garland is lighting the world on fire as the Clippers’ starting point guard, Bennedict Mathurin is drawing a million free throws off the bench, and Jordan Miller, Isaiah Jackson, and Kobe Sanders are filling in the gaps. However, the guy driving the Clippers’ success more than anyone is Kawhi Leonard, who might somehow, incredibly, be putting together the best regular season of his storied career. It’s been a treat to watch Kawhi work on a nightly basis, and that should not get lost amidst the playoff push and standings watching.

The Antagonist

For a team that’s been mostly competent all season, the Blazers might have received less coverage than almost any other NBA team. They didn’t make any major trades, they haven’t had any shocking injuries, and they have rarely been really good or really bad for significant stretches. They have been fine. That’s it, and that’s all. Deni Avdija’s leap to All Star level player has been their biggest development, followed by second-year big man Donovan Clingan’s arrival as a true starting-caliber center. Outside of that, Jrue Holiday has been pretty good, Scoot Henderson has shown flashes but been inconsistent, and Toumani Camara has disappointed on offense. Their fringe players are totally ok, with Robert Williams being the most impactful of the bunch when he’s healthy. With the 20^th overall Net Rating (12^th on defense, 23^rd on offense), there truly might not be a more nondescript team than these Blazers.

Notes

Biggest Game of the Season: Well, here we are. Tonight is the Clippers’ most important game of the season, as they square off against the team directly behind them in the standings with only six games left after this one. If the Clippers win, they will be 2.5 games up on the Blazers (with another game against them left to play). If they lose, their lead will shrink to just a half-game, leaving them with zero margin the rest of the season. Hopefully the Clippers come out hard, because the Blazers almost certainly will. And, as Ralph Lawler would say, fasten your seatbelts!

Standings Watch: Outside of this game, the Warriors are off tonight while the Suns play on the road in Orlando. A road game against the Magic is one of those contests that looks tough on a calendar but might not prove to be in practice, as the Magic got waxed in their last game on Sunday and have dropped eight of nine games to fall all the way to 10^th in the East. For one night, Clippers fans will be huge Magic fans, as a Clippers’ win combined with a Suns loss would bring the Clips to just 1.5 games back of Phoenix.

Clippers vs Blazers Preview: This is a Big One, Folks
Robert Flom

The Clippers have won four games in a row as the 2026 NBA season draws to a close, with this contest against the Bucks being notably most for Brook Lopez’s homecoming to the city he helped win a championship for.

Game Information

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 12:30 PM PT

How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez

Bucks: Ryan Rollins – Gary Trent Jr. – Pete Nance – Ousmane Dieng – Myles Turner

Injuries

Clippers: Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Doubtful (Knee), Kevin Porter Jr. Out (Knee), Bobby Portis Doubtful (Wrist), Kyle Kuzma Doubtful (Achilles), Gary Harris Questionable (Groin), Thanasis Antetokounmpo Questionable (Calf)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have once again won four games in a row. Friday’s night victory over the Pacers may have been the Clippers’ ugliest of the season, but a win is a win, and at this point of the season that’s all that matters. The Clippers continue to receive stellar play from Darius Garland and Kawhi Leonard, which is the most important thing for their having any chance at all in the postseason. Friday was also notable for the Clippers being fully healthy (outside of the guys with season-ending injuries) for the first time since the trade deadline; hopefully they can continue to build reps and chemistry as the postseason approaches.

The Antagonist

The Bucks have pretty much entered full-on tanking, with around half their rotation missing yesterday’s game against the Spurs and a likely similar showing against the Clippers. The Bucks will miss the playoffs for the first time in a long time, and it’s unclear whether we will see Giannis again this season. The Bucks have very little to take out of this season, with the play of Ryan Rollins as a notable bright spot with some lesser wins in Ousmane Dieng and Jericho Sims. Whether Giannis stays after this summer or is traded, it feels like the Bucks will be rolling out a very, very different roster next season after the complete failure of this year’s squad. Even though the Bucks are playing at home and have a non-awful record, they are now in the pile of teams that the Clippers absolutely have to beat if they’re serious about keeping the 8 seed.

Notes

Brook Returns: One game after the Clippers had two major homecomings with Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson returning to Indiana, they will have another significant game with Brook Lopez playing in Milwaukee. Brook was in Milwaukee for seven years, playing in 469 games and starting 466 of those. During that time he helped the Bucks win a title in 2021, earned two All-Defense Team nominations, and played a key role in multiple other deep playoff pushes. He is a Bucks legend, and will assuredly receive an extremely warm welcome this afternoon in his first game back in front of Bucks’ fans since he left for the Clippers last summer. The video tribute will probably be pretty awesome, and I for one am excited for it.

Standings Watch: The Suns are off today, but the Warriors and Blazers are both playing. The Blazers get another cupcake game against the Wizards – though they did lose to the Mavericks on Friday, the Wizards are a different level of bad than Dallas. It feels like a lock Portland will win that one. On the other hand, the Warriors play the Nuggets in a nationally televised game to close out the NBA slate. The Nuggets have not been playing great as of late, but they are also in full desperation mode in terms of the playoff standings, so they will be going all-out to try to win. A Clippers win combined with a Warriors loss would give the Clippers a three-game edge over Golden State with just seven games to go. Not to jinx it, but that feels like a fairly safe cushion to finish above the 10 seed.

Clippers vs Bucks Preview: Brook Returns to Milwaukee
Robert Flom

The Clippers won three games in a row at home, and now head on the road for a short stretch. Their first stop is in Indianapolis, marking this as a homecoming for new Clippers Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson.

Game Information

Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana

When: 4:00 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal,  AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Darius Garland – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Brook Lopez

Pacers: Andrew Nembhard – Aaron Nesmith – Pascal Siakam – Jarace Walker – Jay Huff

Injuries

Clippers: Jordan Miller Questionable (Back), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (Foot), Bradley Beal Out (Hip)

Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton Out (Achilles), Ivica Zubac Out (Ribs), Obit Toppin Questionable (Back), Aaron Nesmith Probable (Back), Johnny Furphy Out (Knee)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have won three games in a row, pushing them back over .500. Their win over the Raptors was one of their more encouraging performances in recent weeks, as they thoroughly dominated a pretty good Raptors team that was (mostly) healthy. Their only real issue was giving up a lot of offensive rebounds, but the Clippers moved the ball well on offense and played good defense against the Raptors on their first shot attempts. Darius Garland continued to cook, Kawhi Leonard looked healthy, and Bennedict Mathurin returned from a week-long absence with a bang. Maybe not one of the Clippers’ finest performances of the season, but it was a big step in the right direction.

The Antagonist

The Pacers have the worst record in the entire NBA – not something anyone would have predicted before the season, even with Tyrese Haliburton out for the year and Myles Turner in Milwaukee. The Pacers have been plagued by injuries much of the season and more or less threw in the towel months ago. They are bad at everything and are not trying to win games, recently losing 16 games in a row before grabbing a win two games ago. This is a team that every winning squad should be able to beat, whether they’re playing at home or not.

Notes

Benn & IJax Revenge Games: This will be the first time Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson return to Indiana since their trade at the deadline. It will be a big homecoming for both guys, who were drafted by the Pacers and spent their whole careers there before being moved to Los Angeles. Mathurin’s breakup with the Pacers was a bit more contentious than Jackson’s, but I’d guess both guys come out with a lot to prove in front of their former home crowd in Indianapolis. Considering the length of their tenures in Indy, I would also guess both guys receive tributes of some kind. Hopefully the Clippers can harness the energy in the building for their benefit.

Standings Watch: The Warriors and Blazers both play tonight. Unfortunately, both teams are playing at home and against tanking squads, with the Warriors facing off against the Wizards and the Blazers playing the Mavericks. The Mavs are at least somewhat frisky, but the Warriors are almost certainly going to win their game, and the Blazers should be heavy favorites in their game as well. It’s hard to complain, of course, as the Clippers are also playing a tanking team, but the situation makes it that much more imperative that the Clippers pick up the win. The Suns, the other team in the Clippers’ vicinity, are off tonight.

Clippers vs Pacers Preview: Bennedict and Isaiah Return to Indianapolis
Robert Flom