The Clippers closed out their seven game Grammys road trip with another tight game, beating the Atlanta Hawks, 149-144 to finish with a franchise-best 6-1 record across the trip. Check out how it played out below:

Summary

To start the game, Clippers did not look like a team that just flew into the city the night before. They put up 37 points in the first quarter and led by as much as 13 in the first two quarters. Unfortunately, that lead was gone—and the scored was tied—by half time because the Clippers gave up an 8-0 run to end the second quarter. Through one half, the Clippers were shooting extremely well (58% from the field and 52% from three), but their defense allowed the Hawks to likewise shoot over 50% from the field and three, as well as gave the Hawks a free throw advantage.

In the second half, the Clippers were led by Kawhi Leonard, who scored 22 of his 36 in the back half of the game, as well as James Harden (17 of his 30 in the half). The Hawks stayed in the game through timely shots by Trae Young, Dejounte Murray, and—annoyingly—De’Andre Hunter, who scored 27 points in 19 minutes. The Clippers were lucky Hunter was on a minutes restriction as he continues to ramp up from injury.

Notes

The Final Grammys Road Trip?: The Clippers’ infamous Grammys road trips are, of course, caused by the fact that the Crypto-dot-com Arena (née STAPLES Center) hosts the Grammys. With the Clippers moving to their own arena, one can assume these Grammys trips are no more. If so, going 6-1 on the final vacation is a pretty nice way to go out.

Managing Zubac: Ivica Zubac, who played against the Heat on Sunday night, sat tonight with the injury report categorization of “injury management.” It was probably the right call, given that the Hawks are not world beaters, but the Clippers missed him. The Hawks grabbed 13 offensive rebounds, leading to 19 second chance points. Although Plumlee and Theis were fine in their respective minutes, Ty Lue decided to close without a center; instead, the Clippers finished with Harden, Westbrook, George, Leonard, and Coffey. On Wednesday, back in Los Angeles, the Clippers will face one of their true demons—Jonas Valančiūnas—so hopefully Zubac will be ready to go.

Clippers finish Grammys trip with win over Hawks, 149-144
Kenneth Armstrong

The last stop of the Clippers’ Grammys road trip is Atlanta, where the Clippers will take on the Hawks, who are having a disappointing year but are on a four game winning streak. Check out more on this match up below:

Game Information

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

When: 4:30 PM PT

How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570

Tickets: For great deals on Clippers tickets, check out Barry’s Tickets! 

Projected Starters

Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Hawks: Trea Young – Dejounte Murray – Jalen Johnson – Garrison Mathews – Onyeka Okongwu

Injuries

Clippers: Moussa Diabate, Out (Hand)

Hawks: Vit Krejci, Out (Shoulder); Clint Capela, Out (Adductor); Mouhamed Gueye, Out (Back); De’Andre Hunter, Questionable (Knee); Saddiq Bey, Questionable (Ankle)

The Big Picture

The Clippers are walking into another game with a significant talent advantage. Although the Hawks have a talented back court, the Clippers have better players in Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden, who are also much bigger and defensively adept than the Hawks’ best players. Moreover, the Hawks have been, simply, bad this year—including at home, where they have a losing record (12-13). So long as the Clippers come out focused (something, admittedly, that has been an issue lately), the Clippers should have no problem taking down the Hawks.

The Antagonist

The Clippers are now 5-1 on the Grammys trip, but there have been a few ugly wins that reveal how much more work the Clippers have in front of them, especially on defense. And the Hawks’s offense will test the Clippers’ defense: league wide, they are third in points per game, fifth in second chance points, fourth in pace, and are one of the best mid-range shooting teams in the league. The pace metric stands in stark contrast to the Clippers, who are one of the five slowest teams in the league. This will be an especially important metric to watch as the Clippers are on the second night of a back-to-back.

Notes

Zubac’s Reintroduction: On Sunday, Ivica Zubac only played 18 minutes after returning from his calf injury. We can expect that number to stay pretty low for the next few games, but another thing to track will be how Theis is affected. Against the Heat, Plumlee played 26 minutes and Theis was a DNP-CD. Whether that will be the case going forward is unclear, although it looks like Plumlee will be given the benefit of the doubt.

Rooting Interests: On Monday, the Clippers want: Cavaliers over Kings; Hornets over Lakers; 76ers over Mavericks; Nets over Warriors; and Raptors over Pelicans. Unfortunately, the Raptors blew a chance to help the Clippers, giving up a comeback win to the Thunder on Sunday. The Clippers are currently third in the West but have the same number of losses as the first and second seeds.

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Clippers vs. Hawks Preview: Closing the Road Trip
Kenneth Armstrong

Despite some unrealized excitement earlier in the week, the Clippers had an uncharacteristically quiet draft night (they didn’t make a single trade tonight after making at least one during each of the last 8 NBA Drafts). For the first time since Lawrence Frank took over basketball operations from Doc Rivers, the Clippers simply entered the day with two picks, made them, and called it a night. While the hope is that these two guys–Kobe and Jordan–develop into good players, it’s unlikely that either is a major factor in the Clippers’ pursuit of the 2024 NBA title. Forward Kobe Brown will be on the 15-man roster in a reserve role behind a host of veterans, while wing Jordan Miller is expected to sign a two-way contract, spending most of the upcoming season with the Ontario Clippers.

The biggest story of the draft for the Clippers, though, wasn’t who they took–it was the players who weren’t moved. It’s no secret that the team is ready to move on from Marcus Morris, who has been the team’s primary power forward for the last 3.5 years. Originally, the team expected to send the 30th pick and Marcus Morris to the Washington Wizards in a 3-team trade that would have brought guard Malcolm Brogdon to Los Angeles, but they backed out over concerns regarding Brogdon’s health. Adding Brown with the 30th pick instead is all well and good, but the clear need to move on from Morris at the power forward position remains–and the team targeting Brogdon (and Chris Paul who was dealt to the Golden State Warriors today) suggests that they’re looking to move for a guard and a forward this summer. Whether the goal of making a big addition at guard is to replace or complement Russell Westbrook, who is an unrestricted free agent, is anyone’s guess.

At guard, the Clippers could always simply re-sign Westbrook, having sufficient depth to round out a solid guard rotation without an addition (Bones Hyland will definitely appreciate not being stuck behind two hall of fame point guards next year). Questions about the championship upside of putting his shooting and turnover issues alongside Paul George and Kawhi Leonard remain, but it would hardly be a surprise to see him back with the team after he became the emotional centerpiece of an otherwise listless Clipper team last year and put up big numbers in the team’s first round loss with George and Leonard sidelined. I’d still look for the Clippers to deal a guard (Westbrook, Hyland, Norman Powell, and Eric Gordon is one too many guys as long as Paul George is starting at shooting guard, and that’s without mentioning Terance Mann, who more easily slots into the backup small forward role), likely Gordon who is the most expendable and movable due to a combination of skill level, age, and contract status.

Westbrook cannot be traded as a current free agent, only re-signed. Powell’s contract is likely unappealing to trade partners, but he’s an important piece for the Clippers, so it’s hard to see a win-win deal developing there. Mann and Hyland both represent players with positive trade value, but they’re both players the Clippers would be reluctant to part with lightly. Gordon, at 34 years old and with a fully non-guaranteed salary of $20.9M next season, is an easy choice to explore moving. The Clippers face an interesting decision with Gordon–in many ways, he’s a completly expendable piece on this team, because if Westbrook is retained (or another guard added in his place) the team can build a comfortable backup rotation with Hyland, Powell, and Mann. While it’s certainly possible that Ty Lue would play Gordon over Hyland if both are on the team in October, it wouldn’t be healthy for the organization to invest minutes in a mediocre 34-year-old veteran over a high-upside (if tumultuous) 23-year-old prospect. Cutting Gordon does Lue a favor by taking away a bad choice and leaving him with a straightforward guard rotation. At the same time, Gordon isn’t a bad player, and the Clippers aren’t getting that $21M salary slot back if they release him. He has on-floor utility, especially during a regular season where you know you won’t always have your first-choice 10-man rotation available, and could be a part of a deadline deal as a huge expiring. Then there’s the tax angle: simply releasing Gordon would save the Steve Ballmer something like $100M next season. Even for the league’s wealthiest owner, that’s gotta be hard to not consider for a guy who shouldn’t be in the nightly rotation.

Even if the Clippers are hunting for an upgrade at guard, the possibility of running it back with Russ at least exists. That isn’t the case at power forward, where Morris was woefully ineffective for the majority of last season before losing his starting job late in the year. His time with the team, both on the court and interpersonally, seems to have fully run its course. 34-year-old backup glue guy Nico Batum isn’t exactly ambitious to take over starter’s minutes, and it’s hard to imagine Ty Lue trusting Robert Covington to fill Morris’ shoes next season after routinely giving him the cold shoulder last year. In fact, while Gordon and Morris almost need to be moved in this off-season, Covington is the third player who I most expect to depart. The non-trade options for the Clippers to address replacing Morris come down to Covington and Kawhi Leonard… and while I’m into the idea of shifting Kawhi to PF in certain lineups, it’s hard to imagine the team asking their oft-unavailable superstar small forward to play against bigger, stronger opponents on a nightly basis in the regular season.

Knowing that the Clippers should be shopping Gordon and Morris (and Covington) hard while looking for a guard upgrade/insurance and a new starting power forward is the easy part. Making a deal or two along those lines is a bigger challenge. Without the 30th pick to attach in deals (the Clippers can still trade Kobe Brown’s draft rights, but the pick is always more valuable as currency before the selection is made), the Clippers will have a hard time attracting much interest in Gordon and Morris. In fact, last night, the Sacramento Kings straight-up gave Dallas the 24th overall pick in order to take the undesired contract of Richaun Holmes–and Holmes is a useful player that the Mavericks will use! If 24 + Holmes = nothing, then 30 + Morris = Brogdon was actually a massive win (health notwithstanding)… and Morris without 30 = less than nothing. The Clippers are hardly in a position to give up future picks, Terance Mann, or Bones Hyland just to get off of Morris’ contract, so unless someone is really clamoring for Amir Coffey or Brandon Boston Jr., they’ll have to get creative to make a deal work.

As far as I can figure, the Clippers’ best bet is to go deeper into the crevasse by trading Gordon and Morris for less desirable contracts, thereby creating a situation of leverage where they can get some value back to help the team next year (either via a flippable asset or a useful player on an undesired contract). Say what you will about not wanting to pay them next season, but both of their contracts end after just one more year (and in Gordon’s case, only the amount required to make trade math becomes guaranteed, meaning he could offer some instant savings–more on this in a second). That’s not true for someone like Ben Simmons, who will make $40M in 2024-25. Would the Nets downgrade from Dorian Finney-Smith to Robert Covington if it meant the Clippers ate Simmons’ extra year in exchange for Gordon and Morris? Would they give LAC an additional asset too? If the Heat need Duncan Robinson’s outgoing salary to make a trade work this summer but their trade partner doesn’t fancy owing him $30M over the two seasons beyond next year, would Miami compensate the Clippers for taking on that deal in exchange for Morris’ expiring, and could they use that asset with Gordon to land a new power forward? Would the rebuilding Hornets jump at the opportunity to offload 3 years and $75M of Terry Rozier, a player who could be useful to LAC? What about the Hawks and ever-rumored forward John Collins’ similarly big deal? Atlanta particularly strikes me as a team that has to prepare to pay their upcoming young talent and could look to offload money this summer to set the stage for those deals in future years.

While it’s possible that some trade partners could value Gordon as a short-term role player, his presence allows for some immediate savings, too. His deal is fully non-guaranteed, which means the Clippers are completely off the hook for his salary if they cut him by June 28th. It’s not a complete mulligan for trade partners, though–enough of his contract needs to be guaranteed to make a trade legal. Still, teams can save money that way. Let’s look at that Gordon/Morris/Covington for Simmons/Finney-Smith deal, just as an example. To bring back those two players, the Clippers would have to send out about $38.6M. After Morris and Covington, the Clippers would only need an additional $10M, meaning that the Nets could immediately cut Gordon and have trimmed $13M ($19.6M if they elect to stretch his salary hit over the next 3 years) from their payroll for next season on top of savings on Simmons’ additional year.

Of course, there is the possibility of bigger deals solving these issues organically–maybe Gordon, Morris, Terance Mann, and future picks can land the Clippers Zach LaVine (good luck figuring out how to make him fit with Paul and Kawhi on offense, but talent is talent). If they get off of Morris’ deal in such a fashion, there are a couple of younger, less established power forwards that the Clippers could always look at as upside plays with the knowledge that they can turn to Batum or move Kawhi up a position in the playoffs: Obi Toppin is looking for a way out of New York to a bigger role, and the Clippers are rumored to have interest in Rockets forward Kenyon Martin Jr. One issue with targeting Toppin or Martin, aside from their relative inexperience and unprovenness, is that their salaries are too low to make a swap for Morris easy. Another is that they’d likely cost draft capital to acquire, something the Clippers have very little of and need to treasure.

Then, there are the elephant(s) in the room: the lingering rumored availability of Paul George in trade talks (and Damian Lillard’s satisfaction in Portland). It’s been mentioned throughout the week that the Clippers are gauging George’s value, though the latest update from Andrew Greif in the LA Times suggests that the feedback they received wasn’t great, with teams concerned about the downside of trading serious packages for a 33-year-old with a looming opt-out next summer who has averaged just 47 games played over his 4 years as a Clipper (2 of which were shortened from 82 to 72 games due to COVID scheduling, for what it’s worth). Still, Knicks reporter Ian Begley says he would expect New York to continue a pursuit of George if the Clippers are open to trading the star wing. The problem: both teams are trying to get closer to a championship in the near future, not further away. The Clippers would surely entertain a George-Randle framework for the same age, health, and contract reasons that the Knicks wouldn’t; the Clippers would hopefully rebuff a package built around RJ Barrett for the same quality disparity reasons the Knicks would pursue it. Perhaps a convenient way out: if Damian Lillard does finally decide it is time to leave the Trail Blazers behind instead of hanging around to mentor #3 overall pick Scoot Henderson, could a 3-team deal sending George to the Knicks, Lillard to the Clippers, and Barrett and a heap of draft picks to the Blazers satisfy everyone? The Knicks are committed to Jalen Brunson as their younger, cheaper star point guard, but covet a two-way All-NBA wing to join their core, while the Clippers would embrace the Lillard upgrade, especially given George’s reluctance to be a playmaker last season. I wouldn’t bet money on it, but I wouldn’t rule it out either. Lillard isn’t eligible to be traded until July 9th, the one-year anniversary of signing his designated veteran maximum extension last summer, so I’d expect these talks to be slow-developing as all sides (including Lillard himself) consider their options.

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After Quiet Draft, Clippers Need Trades For Gordon, Morris
Lucas Hann

The LA Clippers started their three-game road trip in Atlanta on Friday evening, taking on the Hawks, who they beat back in January, 106-93. This time, Trae Young and Kevin Huerter protected home court, beating the Reggie Jackson and Ivica Zubac led Clippers, 112-106.

Summary

Both team were hot from the start: in the first quarter, the Clippers shot 52.6% from the field, while the Hawks hit 60% of their shots. Marcus Morris. Sr. had nine of the Clippers’ 24 first quarter points, and Luke Kennard got off to a 2/2 start for five points. The Hawks, who finished the first quarter with 33 points, were led by De’Andre Hunter (6pts), John Collins (6), and Trae Young. The Hawk’s early seven point lead was almost entirely earned at the free throw line, where they were 8/8, with the help of Isiah Hartenstein, who had two shooting fouls in his two minutes in the quarter.

Both teams continued their hot shooting in the second quarter (although the Hawks come back to earth a little). But the Clippers’ were able to catch—and, for a while, surpass—Atlanta by hitting six second-quarter threes. Batum, Reggie, and Luke all had two, and the Clippers as a whole started getting to the free throw line. But the Clippers’ 13-0 run was answered by an 8-0 run by the Hawks, who went into halftime with a one-point lead.

The third quarter was much more even, though the Hawks extended their lead to five by quarter’s end. The Clippers’ attack was led by Reggie and Ivica Zubac, while the Hawks were boosted by Young and Huerter. Morris, who missed five of his six shots after starting 3/6, was ejected about eight minutes into the third quarter for barking at a referee who (rightfully) called him for traveling.

Although the Clippers hung tough in the fourth quarter, they could not get over the hump. Both teams’ scoring dropped off, but Kevin Huerter hit two huge threes that pushed the goalposts just out of the Clippers’ reach. Reggie and Zubac both continued their strong play, but Reggie had a few too many hero-ball possessions that resulted in suboptimal shots. Relatedly, Luke Kennard only took one shot in the whole forth quarter.

Notes

Familiar Faces: Former Clipper Lou Williams, who was inactive in the first matchup between these teams, got some action tonight. He played 12 minutes but had just two points on 1/6 shooting. Bally Sports West’s Jaime Maggio reported a nice quote from Ivica Zubac about Lou’s ability to instill confidence in his teammates. Danilo Gallinari also played a huge role off the bench for Atlanta, finishing with 13 points, six rebounds, and three assists.

Missing RoCo: The Clippers have been without Robert Covington (who is out for personal reasons) for a few games now, and he has been missed dearly. Isaiah Hartenstein was more effective as the game went on, but he had almost as many fouls as rebounds in his 12 minutes. Moreover, Zubac’s 12 rebounds accounted for one-third of the Clippers’ team total, as Atlanta out-rebounded LA by 11 (including 15 offensive rebounds to the Clippers’ six). Covington would have been helpful on the boards and with defending Gallinari, Okongwu, and Capela, who all had good games. Even Kevin Huerter—who averages 3.2 rebounds per game this season—had eight rebounds tonight against the undersized Clippers.

That does it for our recap of tonight’s Clippers-Hawks game. The Clippers take on the Detroit Pistons on Sunday. Until then, check out the podcast for more news and analysis.

Clippers vs. Hawks Recap: Huerter, Trae close out LA
Kenneth Armstrong

One of the more bizarre games of the regular season is going to leave me with some difficult choices in these Clippers vs Hawks player grades–and some easy ones. After some improved defense helped the Clippers get a split against the Dallas Mavericks last week before demolishing the Charlotte Hornets over the weekend, there was finally a bit of hope that things could be trending in the right direction for LAC. That hope was dashed as all-too-familiar Clipper listlessness led them to fall behind by double digits in the second quarter and as many as 22 points in the mid-third, when Ty Lue had seen enough. He pulled the entire starting lineup and put out a crew of Terance Mann, Luke Kennard, Amir Coffey, Nicolas Batum, and Patrick Patterson, and… it worked. The Clippers stormed back into the game, with Kennard’s +30 in 18 minutes symbolizing the turnaround, and ultimately won one of their most emotionally satisfying games since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George came to Los Angeles.

Clippers Starter Grades

Reggie Jackson: D. Reggie has greatly exceeded expectations for a minimum-salary player this season, and he’s added a lot of positive value and helped the Clippers win a number of games. But there’s competition for minutes among LAC’s guards, and while I defended Ty Lue’s decision to ultimately play Jackson over Luke Kennard after the latter’s struggles this season, the tide has clearly turned in recent weeks and became a tsunami in this contest.

Paul George: D. The Clipper’s second-best player just didn’t bring the type of impact–tangible or not–that you need from him on a night-to-night basis. I don’t have much else to say for Paul in this one.

Kawhi Leonard: B. Kawhi gets a B, in part because he was individually fine in the box score through most of LAC’s struggles but mostly because he came back into the game late with a new level of engagement, putting up 11 points on 3-4 shooting (1-1 from two, 2-3 from deep, 3-3 from the line) in the fourth quarter to help the Clippers complete their comeback and finalize the win. We even saw some serious Kawhi emotion late in this game–enough to salvage a decent grade despite contributing to the team’s low-effort defense earlier on and making a failed attempt to “take over” by forcing tough shots offensively in the third as the deficit grew.

Marcus Morris: B. It feels wrong to give multiple starters passing grades after the way last night’s game unfolded, but I’d have a hard time defending less than a B for Marcus against a grade appeal. After all, he had 16 points on 5-9 shooting during the bad stretch of the game, and then came back in to play center in a small-ball closing lineup and hit a big corner three to push LAC’s lead to 5 with 2 minutes left, and the Clippers’ late-game three-point flurry ultimately saw him finish with a positive +/-, which isn’t a very stable measure of a player’s quality but indicates that his minutes can’t have been a true disaster.

Ivica Zubac: B-. Again, despite his presence during that embarrassing stretch, I’m hard-pressed to fully justify why Zu should get the brunt of the blame. If the Clippers had lost that game, I might have just given every starter an F and called it a day. Unlike Morris and Kawhi, Zu didn’t get a chance to partake in the Clippers’ fourth quarter run to close the game. Other than that, though, I don’t think he was individually bad in his minutes… just that when 3 of your main 7 guys, all of whom happen to be among your highest-usage ball handlers, have absolute stinkers, the dirty work 7-footer can end up a little helpless to individually turn the tide.

Clippers Bench Player Grades

Terance Mann: A. It was no coincidence that with the Clippers fully stuck in the mud on both ends, Mann was the first player at the scorer’s table a few minutes into the third quarter as Lue sought to inject some energy into the lineup. It wouldn’t manifest until a couple minutes later when Luke Kennard joined Mann on the floor, but make no mistake: Terance and Luke share the game ball tonight. His 21 points are a season high, as were his 10 rebounds, and he was agressive and confident attacking the rim and keeping Atlanta on their heels for the final 18 minutes of play. Especially when viewed through the lens of his contract–$1.5M this year, $1.8M next year, and $1.9M the year after–Terance’s play grows more and more encouraging.

Nicolas Batum: B-. I don’t really know what to do with Nic in this game. In part, it was the second unit who really provided a letdown after a nice start to the game for the Clippers’ starters and let the game slip out of hand. But, Nic was part of the bench crew inserted to go on a massive run, and while the box score shows him as being mostly a bystander to Mann and Kennard, Luke credited Nic with being the team’s leader on the court throughout that entire stretch. I have a hard time knocking him all the way down to a C knowing how crucial he was to that run, but I also have a hard time giving him a standard B considering how minor his tangible contributions were.

Luke Kennard: A. Is there even any doubt? Luke was the first player to have 20 or more points on 100% shooting, 7 or more rebounds, and 4 or more assists in under 20 minutes played in an NBA game since 1971. He was literally perfect offensively, damn good defensively, and absolutely busted his ass for the team en route to the Clippers winning his 18 minutes by 30 points. I haven’t graded Luke a lot recently because he hasn’t gotten many meaningful minutes–tonight, he took the minutes he could get and made them meaningful through sheer force of will. After a really frustrating stretch of games to start the year, getting benched may be exactly what Luke needed to motivate him to prove that he’s simply too talented to be out of an NBA team’s rotation. I’m really excited for new Luke going forward.

Patrick Patterson: A-. PatPat didn’t play quite the role that Luke or Terance did in the Clippers’ comeback, but considering what we’ve seen from him this year, it’s a pretty great outcome for him to be on the floor during a stretch of minutes that the Clippers won by double figures. After playing a small part in the team’s miserable first half, Patterson joined the rest of the second unit in bringing fight in the third quarter and willing the team back into the game.

Amir Coffey: A. Similarly, Amir didn’t have the same crazy run as Terance or Luke, but for a guy on a two-way contract to get thrown out there with a 20-point deficit and be a part of a gritty lineup that clawed back into a game… expectations should be so low for a player who isn’t even on the 15-man roster that even the fact that such a run could occur with him on the court is more than you’d hope for from a two-way guy.

Lou Williams: F. I list the bench guys in order of minutes played, so Lou ends up last after playing just 9 minutes in the first half and not returning to the game. Lou was 0-3 from the field and had 1 assist and 2 turnovers in his 9 minutes, and it was really this shift of 2nd unit (which is really a hybrid unit as Lue staggeres his lineups) play that saw the game get away from the Clippers in the first half.

No Grades

Mfiondu Kabengele’s time with the Clippers has come to an end, freeing me of the guilt of picking on him in this column. That meant that Daniel Oturu was the team’s only actual unused sub, with Patrick Beverley, Serge Ibaka, and Jay Scrubb all sidelined with injuries.

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Clippers vs Hawks Player Grades
Lucas Hann

Down three starters, LA came up short in Atlanta in the first game of their road trip. Was it an admirable fight? Check out our Clippers vs Hawks player grades to see.

Clippers Starter Grades

Reggie Jackson: A. Yes, I know, it wasn’t a perfect game for Reggie: he had a couple perplexing floaters and committed a pair of ugly turnovers at the end of the first half when the Clippers were starting to build a buffer. Now that that’s out of the way: the good. He more than earned his A tonight, going from third string duties to the starting lineup and being the Clippers’ best player. Reggie had 20 points on 8-16 shooting, 8 assists, 7 rebounds, 2 steals, a block, and 2 turnovers in 39 minutes. He probably won’t quite keep this level of play up, but if he keeps bringing strong performances with Patrick Beverley out the Clippers will have a shot to win some games on this trip while shorthanded.

Luke Kennard: B-. Luke didn’t quite step up tonight in the way that you’d hope with Paul and Kawhi out, but he still had a perfectly solid performance in extended minutes, with 13 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, and 4 steals. Again, you really would like to see a bit more of both volume and efficiency–he was 5-13 from the field–with the Clippers so shorthanded, but this also isn’t really a far cry from his averages in Detroit last year: 13 points, 2 assists in 28 minutes tonight compared to 15.8 points and 4.1 assists in 32.9 minutes per game last season. Bonus points for digging in defensively and coming up with a career-high 4 steals.

Terance Mann: A. Terance had maybe his most impressive NBA game so far, with 10 points on 4-8 shooting, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, and 4 steals in 34 minutes of playing time. The Clippers used him as their primary defender on Trae Young, and while he didn’t lock Trae up he was really solid within the team’s scheme and did a far better job than any other available Clipper could have. The 9 rebounds were a really nice contribution, as the Clippers struggled against Clint Capela but otherwise controlled the defensive glass, and his transition defense was excellent as LA tried to minimize Atlanta’s scoring bursts.

Nicolas Batum: C. On most nights, Nic thrives in the margins, doing the little stuff on both ends of the floor. When Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are taking care of the big stuff, that makes him a brilliant support player. When the Clippers are trying to handle the big stuff by committee to compensate for their stars being out, Nic doing the little stuff feels a lot more like empty calories than crucial contributions. He didn’t shoot well tonight, but that will always come and go–the 3 turnovers and poor defensive containment against Young’s quickness were more glaring. As long as the Clippers are shorthanded, I’d probably reduce Nic’s minutes in favor of Marcus Morris in hopes of Marcus creating some offense.

Serge Ibaka: C. Serge was the focal point for the Clippers’ first-quarter offense, putting up 8 points on 4-6 shooting. It was important enough to make up for the fact that he wasn’t very good defensively or on the glass. When he shot just 2-9 the rest of the way and continued to be poor in those other areas, it was a problem for the Clippers. You can live with 15 points on 6-15 shooting and 3 assists from Serge offensively, but he’s gotta be better on a play-by-play basis on the other end.

Clippers Bench Player Grades

Marcus Morris: D. Morris made a positive first-half impact, albeit a small one, as he added 8 points on 3-6 shooting. It really would have been nice if he had had a quicker trigger from deep instead of taking so many mid-range jumpers off the dribble–on some of his attempts, he actually got into dangerous positions, but he took a few shots from 18-20 feet that really should have been threes on the first catch. In the second half, though, Marcus brought nothing–no points, 0-3 from the field in just over 13 minutes on the court. Part of Marcus’ value is that hiding behind the gritty 3-and-D combo forward role he plays for the Clippers, he’s a guy who put up an efficient 20 points per game for the Knicks last year. It’s one thing for his offense to be hit-or-miss in a low-usage role, but the team needs to be able to look to him on nights like this and get a little more.

Lou Williams: D. This is the average of an F first half, where Lou was a terrible 0-6 from the field for 0 points, and a B second half, where he was 4-8 from the field for 11 points. If he’d had two halves like that and put up 22 points on 50% shooting tonight, we’d probably be calling this a Clippers win. The Clippers don’t necessarily need 30-point games from Marcus and Lou to win games while shorthanded (though it wouldn’t hurt), but they really can’t afford to get stinkers from the two most prolific scorers available to them in games like these.

Ivica Zubac: A. Zu was once again great on both ends of the floor, finishing with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double in just 18 minutes of play. His time on the court was partially limited by his 4 fouls through 3 quarters (at least 2 of which were horrible calls against him), but I also thought he should have closed the game tonight over Serge. The good news, though, is that after some not-super-meaningful outings against a quite bad Oklahoma City Thunder frontcourt, Zu was dominant again tonight. He’s back.

Amir Coffey: B. As Robert Flom said on The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast tonight, Amir was pretty invisible during his 12 minutes on the floor–which can be seen as both a good thing and a bad thing. Yeah, he didn’t bring a lot to the Clippers’ efforts: one made layup, a missed three, a turnover, and a couple of fouls. But for a guy on a two-way contract pressed into duty because of three injuries to starters, he also managed to not be a noticeable liability… though some better defense on Kevin Huerter to start the fourth quarter wouldn’t have hurt.

No Grades

Patrick Beverley, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, and Jay Scrubb were all unavailable tonight. Patrick Patterson, Mfiondu Kabengele, and Daniel Oturu were unused subsitutes, despite the Clippers’ extreme depth issues.

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Clippers vs Hawks Player Grades
Lucas Hann

Both teams have lengthy injury reports as the Clippers head East to take on the Atlanta Hawks and begin a six-game road trip without three of their starters. Read on for a full Clippers vs Hawks game preview to know what to expect in an unusual game.

Clippers vs Hawks Game Information

When: 4:30 PM Pacific Time
Where: Philips Arena, Atlanta, Georgia
How to watch: Fox Sports Prime Ticket, NBATV (blacked out in LA)

Projected Starting Lineups:
LA Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Luke Kennard – Marcus Morris – Nicolas Batum – Serge Ibaka
Atlanta Hawks: Rajon Rondo – Kevin Huerter – De’Andre Hunter – John Collins – Onyeka Okongwu

Injury Reports:
LA Clippers: Patrick Beverley – OUT (right knee soreness), Paul George – OUT (health and safety protocols), Kawhi Leonard – OUT (health and safety protocols), Jay Scrubb – OUT (foot surgery)
Atlanta Hawks: Cam Reddish – PROBABLE (right Achilles tightness), Clint Capela – QUESTIONABLE (right hand soreness), Danilo Gallinari – QUESTIONABLE (right ankle sprain), Trae Young – QUESTIONABLE (back spasms), Bogdan Bogdanovic – OUT (avulsion fracture, right knee), Kris Dunn – OUT (right ankle surgery)

The Big Picture

Until Monday morning, things were going pretty well for the LA Clippers. Sure, not everything was perfect–Lou Williams is still trying to find himself in the new offensive system, and a couple of cold shooting nights resulted in closer-than-they-should-have-been wins against the Oklahoma City Thunder on Friday and Sunday. But it’s hard to complain: both of those games were wins, as were the five Clipper contests preceeding them. That seven-game winning streak has the Clippers in first place in the NBA, tied with the Los Angeles Lakers but holding the tiebreaker after defeating their cross-town rivals on opening night. Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are both in the (very early) MVP conversation. Ivica Zubac has returned to form in recent games. Things were going pretty well for the LA Clippers.

Until Monday morning, when the word came out that the team would begin their upcoming six-game road trip not only without starting point guard Patrick Beverley, who left Sunday’s game early with knee soreness, but both of their superstar wings as well. With Leonard and George sidelined by the league’s new COVID health and safety protocols, an already shallow Clippers bench will be stretched thin, and likely for multiple games. Look for Reggie Jackson to move into the starting lineup at point guard to replace Beverley, with Luke Kennard and Marcus Morris filling in on the wings in place of Leonard and George. The Clippers are fortunate to have fill-ins with experience as NBA starters: while Jackson’s standing has slipped following injuries, he was seen as a quality starting point guard for most of his career. Kennard was a starter in Detroit last season before being hurt and traded to the Clippers, and Morris has been a starter for most of his career, including last season with the Clippers.

Likewise, the team’s two remaining bench players from their typical rotation, Lou Williams and Ivica Zubac, are both highly qualified: Williams is the most prolific bench scorer in NBA history while Zubac was good in a starting role for LAC last season before the arrival of Serge Ibaka. But while the Clippers are still staffed with 7 capable players, the margin for error shrinks with their star power unavailable. It’s much harder to endure bad games for inconsistent offensive players like Jackson, Kennard, Williams, Morris, and Ibaka when they are your primary scorers and not members of the supporting cast. And beyond those 7 guys, the Clippers will look to survive extended rotation minutes for Terance Mann and Patrick Patterson, both of whom have struggled this season.

The Antagonist

The Atlanta Hawks are struggling with injuries of their own. Of the six players listed on their injury report, it’s no secret what the two crucial game-time decisions will be: Trae Young and Clint Capela. Young, averaging 25.3 points and 8.7 assists per game and bombing deep, off-the-dribble threes from all over the court, is the centerpiece for the Hawks offensively, and while Capela contributes on offense as well, he’s the centerpiece for their defense, averaging 14.5 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per game to go with his 14.2 points. The Hawks miss Bogdan Bogdanovic, Kris Dunn would be a rotation piece if healthy, and the pending availability of Danilo Gallinari and Cam Reddish will certainly impact the wing match-ups in this game. But Young and Capela are the big ones. If they both–or even one of the two–are ruled out, the expectations for the Clippers to be competitive tonight increase greatly. If both play, LAC still has enough offensive firepower in their available lineup to pull off an upset, but they’ll be playing with house money and very low expectations.

Let’s touch on Reddish and Gallinari again, though. As we’ve discussed throughout this young season, the Clippers’ biggest depth issues come at the forward spots. George starts at SG, but is 6’8″ and can move across positions, and Leonard, Batum, and Morris are all quality rotation pieces. But behind them, the Clippers’ options are 6’5″ sophomore guard Terance Mann, two-way contract wing Amir Coffey, and slow-footed stretch PF Patrick Patterson. With Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, Danilo Gallinari, and John Collins, the Hawks have a nice forward rotation of their own. If Reddish and Gallinari come off the bench, as they did on Sunday, and find themselves guarded by Mann and Patterson, it’s going to be a very painful second unit shift for the Clippers. If one (or both) of them are sidelined, forcing Hawks coach Lloyd Pierce to give more minutes to Solomon Hill or Tony Snell, the Clippers might catch a break–both are better depth options than LAC has, but neither is likely to have an offensive outburst.

On the whole, the Hawks have been good-but-not-great on both ends of the floor, ranking 11th with an offensive rating of 111.4 and 9th in defensive rating at 109.1. Their net rating of +2.3 is 8th in the NBA, and they play at an average pace (compared to the Clippers’ 27th-ranked crawl). But the significance of those advanced metrics is murky at best because we don’t know the extent to which the teams that take the court will reflect the lineups that have earned those season-long rankings–the Hawks’ offense isn’t the same without Young, their defense isn’t the same without Capela, the Clippers’ offense and defense are both drastically altered by the absence of Leonard and George, and LA might play a more typical pace with Jackson, Williams, and Mann all featuring more heavily.

Clippers vs Hawks Game Notes

• Shooting Variance: So much in the NBA these days just comes down to who gets hot from deep on a given night. The Clippers lead the NBA in three point percentage at 42.3%, but found themselves in close games against the Oklahoma City Thunder when they went cold from beyond the arc as they tried to pull away. The Hawks’ top-10 defense ealry in the season can largely be attributed to having the second-best three-point defense in the league, allowing just 32.4%. Frankly–and I’ve also said the Clippers’ hot start to the year was some lucky variance that would regress–that Hawks three point defense is fool’s gold. Opponent three point % is pretty much just luck: do guys hit their open shots or not? Whether the shorthanded Clippers match that trend or buck it, a good defense built on opponents missing threes isn’t good process.

• Bigs: The Clippers have yet to take a real look at a two-big lineup featuring Serge Ibaka at power forward and Ivica Zubac at center. A stretch where they’re extremely shorthanded on the perimeter and need to bump players over a position seems like the perfect opportunity to give it a shot. I’m not optimistic that it’s anything more than a situational/emergency look, given how Ibaka’s defensive mobility has decreased as he’s aged, but I also highly doubt that Ibaka is going to look worse at PF next to Zubac than Patterson.

• Lou Williams: The last Clipper who hasn’t really found himself yet this season, Lou hasn’t quite fit in within the team’s new-look offense. That offense, of course, is built around drive-and-kicks from Paul George and great ball movement around Kawhi Leonard post-ups. But that ball movement relies on the other guys having extra space as the defense focuses on the Clippers’ stars–without the primary threat, things won’t be as easy for the rest of the guys. That means the Clippers will need a more typical “let Lou be Lou” performance tonight than when they’re asking him to fill a more interchangeable role in the normal offense. I predicted after his poor game Sunday that Lou would swing a game for LAC on this six-game road trip–with three starters out, that becomes both much more likely and much more important if the Clippers are going to find a way to win games.

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Clippers vs Hawks Game Preview: Skeleton Crews
Lucas Hann

UPDATE: According to additional reporting the Clippers are the ones sending cash to the Atlanta Hawks for them to absorb Walton, not the other way around. The Hawks are sending the Clippers a top-55 protected future 2nd round pick that will likely convey in return.

Walton had played sparingly in recent weeks for the Clippers. He was originally a Summer League player who earned a training camp invite and then secured the Clippers’ final roster spot on a non-guaranteed contract. His contract was fully guaranteed in January.

This move is likely a precursor to other moves for the Clippers, as the primary function of this deal is to clear a roster spot. The team could use that roster spot either to take back an additional player in a trade, or to sign a player during buyout season–including, potentially, former Clipper and free agent point guard Darren Collison.

Report: Clippers Trade Derrick Walton Jr. to Hawks
Lucas Hann