The Clippers will play their first game after the All Star Break against the playoff-hopeful Bucks, who may or may not have MVP-candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Game Information

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 5:00 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Bucks: Damian Lillard – Andre Jackson – Taurean Prince – Kyle Kuzma – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Clippers: Jordan Miller Out (G-League) Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Questionable (Calf), Damian Lillard Questionable (Hamstring), Andre Jackson Questionable (Wrist)

The Big Picture

The Clippers closed the first half (really it’s the first 2/3) of the season on a three-game winning streak, placing them as the sixth seed entering the All-Star Break. The Clippers have been buoyed all season by their second-ranked defense, which has kept them in most games and won them well over half their contests this year. The offense, which has had Kawhi Leonard for only 15 games, has been less effective, but has climbed all the way to 19^th after spending most of the season in the 22 to 25 range. The Clippers are in an interesting spot, as the West is so congested that there’s a chance they could still fall all the way out of the postseason entirely as well as a chance they could rise up to as high as three or four. All will depend on health and how well their new pieces mesh together down the stretch.

The Antagonist

At 29-24, the Milwaukee Bucks sit squarely in the middle of the East playoff race, one game behind the Pacers for 4^th and one game up on the Pistons in 6^th. Considering their slow start to the season, they’re not in a bad spot. For a team that has one of the three best players in the NBA and reckons itself a title contender… well, it’s less than ideal. Giannis is still having a monster season and will likely finish top five in MVP voting. Damian Lillard was a worthy All Star. With those two guys healthy and competence around them, the Bucks are no pushover. Yet, none of the numbers indicate the Bucks are anything more than a middling playoff team. The Bucks rank 11^th in Net Rating (1.2), with an offense that ranks 13^th and a defense that ranks 11^th. They are good, maybe very good in spurts. But unless Kyle Kuzma revolutionizes them or they get unexpected contributions from other guys down the stretch, 4^th to 6^th in the East is where they will finish.

Notes

Getting a Look at the Full Roster: This will be the first game that the Clippers have had their full rotation intact since they made their deals at the trade deadline and signed Ben Simmons shortly thereafter. Thus, we have no real idea what Ty Lue’s rotations will look like. I gave some thoughts on what I’d do in this article, but it’s possible Ty Lue goes a completely different direction. The long and short of it is I’d expect a 10-man rotation with lots of quick subs and tons of different lineups outside the start of the 1^st and 3^rd quarters. I don’t think Drew Eubanks will play, but he might. I think all three of Kris Dunn, Amir Coffey, and Nic Batum will see minutes alongside Ben Simmons, but one of them might be out of the rotation in this one. We will just have to see!

No KPJ Revenge Game: The Clippers will be up against Kevin Porter Jr. in this one, who served as the backup point guard for them for the first half of the season. As Clippers fans know, he’s the kind of player who’s mostly bad, but can get hot on certain nights and be frustratingly effective on awful shots. The Clippers have seen a lot of him in practice and on the court this year, and I’d hope they have the right strategy in place for him, namely to let him shoot open threes and bait him into taking a lot of contested midrange jumpers. If he hits them, he hits them, but I’ll be disappointed if the Clippers let him get to the rim with any consistency. Hopefully he has one of his many bad nights with inefficient shooting and turnovers and the Clippers resoundingly win his minutes.

Clippers vs Bucks Preview: Entering the Second Half of the Season
Robert Flom

The Clippers will finish a lengthy homestand against the Milwaukee Bucks and MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Bucks: Damian Lillard – Gary Trent Jr. – Taurean Prince – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Brook Lopez

Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo Probable (Knee), Khris Middleton Probable (Ankle), AJ Green Out (Quad), Tyler Smith Out (G-League), AJ Johnson Out (G-League)

Clippers: Kris Dunn Out (Knee), Jordan Miller Questionable (Illness), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team)

The Big Picture

The Clippers survived their four-in-five stretch with a 2-2 record, and are hanging onto the 6^th seed in the Western Conference in a neck-and-neck race with the Lakers for 5^th. As they have all season, the Clippers are winning based on defense – their defense has risen to 2^nd in the entire league, even as their offense has actually fallen to 23^rd. Kawhi Leonard is being re-integrated into the rotation, Norm Powell, Ivica Zubac, and Amir Coffey have continued their excellent seasons, and Ty Lue is tinkering around the fringes of the rotation. With the trade deadline approaching, the Clippers are in a solid spot to keep their hold on a playoff spot – and maybe even try to get some reinforcements at backup center to replace the ineffectual Mo Bamba.

The Antagonist

After starting the season at an embarrassing 1-6, the Bucks have gone 24-11 since then, a record more in line with what was expected of the preseason title contender. The team is led by Giannis, who is turning in another phenomenal, MVP-caliber season as he enters his 30s. Damian Lillard is having a bounceback season, performing at an All-Star level after a down campaign last year. The rest of the roster is not nearly as good, but they have gotten just enough from the usual cadre of role players as well as a couple of new guys (Trent Jr. and Prince) to be a solidly competent team on both ends. Nothing about the Bucks says they’re a title contender, but they are definitely a playoff team in the East, and nobody ever wants to play Giannis. They are a tough team to beat on a night-to-night basis, and can be downright impossible to stop if Dame is on a heater.

Notes

Guarding Giannis: In the past couple years, the Clippers have sometimes put Ivica Zubac on Giannis Antetokounmpo and stuck one of their forwards on Brook Lopez. Considering Kawhi Leonard is still working his way back into things, I would suspect the Clippers go with that strategy in this one, and put Kawhi on Brook while Zu takes Giannis. That would leave Derrick Jones Jr. at the point of attack on Dame, and Harden getting to rest on Taurean Prince with Norm handling Trent. Those are relatively favorable matchups for the Clippers, but Zu will need to do his utmost to stay out of foul trouble. The Clippers are in a bad spot when Zu can’t play in general, but it would be particularly brutal in this game, when he’s by far their best option on Giannis (Nic Batum might be 2^nd). I’m curious to see if Ty goes this route, and if so, how Zu does.

Drawing Brook from the Paint: The Bucks’ defense has gotten all the way back up to 10^th despite the fact that they only possess a few good defenders on the entire roster, and a lot of that is due to how good those defenders are. Brook Lopez is ancient, groundbound, and slow, but the man knows how to protect the paint and remains one of the best in the league at doing so. James Harden historically was one of the best players in the NBA at punishing paint-bound rim protectors, and while he’s no longer at that level, he needs to try to bring that back for this game. The more he can force switches and get Brook to leave the paint, the better chances the Clippers will have. If they drive right into the teeth of the defense all night or settle for jumpers, their chances of winning will plummet.

Hello Docness my Old Friend: Just felt like getting another bit of wordplay off. Anyway, Doc has done pretty well with the Bucks this season, somewhat surprisingly. I’m interested to see what his reception is at Intuit, as this will be his first time there. I don’t think many Clippers fans remember him fondly, but you never know.

Clippers vs Bucks Preview: What’s Up, Doc?
Robert Flom

The LA Clippers put up an impressive effort despite being short-handed, but couldn’t cross the finish line in a 124-117 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks.

Summary

When Kawhi Leonard and Paul George were both ruled out for Sunday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks, it was not a shocker.

Considering the situation, a quick turnaround in less than 24 hours, and matinee games no less, it was likely that somebody was going to be out. When everyone suited up against the Chicago Bulls on Saturday, the Bucks game was thus the one that was going to have holes in the lineup.

But despite being short-handed and having a noon start on Daylight Savings Time change day no less, the Clippers looked energized and ready to play. PJ Tucker and Amir Coffey took Leonard and George’s spot in the starting lineup and with James Harden leading the attack, the Clippers held a 33-29 lead after the first quarter.

During the second quarter, the Clippers did a good job of finding Ivica Zubac who had his way down low the entire game. Bones Hyland carried over his momentum from the Bulls game, and with Tucker hitting the glass and generally being everywhere on the court, the Clippers continued to lead, 62-59, at the half.

But the Bucks are a potential Finals contender and they were always going make a run. Giannis Antetokounmpo started to get to the free-throw line and poor Clippers offensive possessions lead to turnovers and run-outs by the Bucks.

Brandon Boston Jr. gave the crowd something to cheer about when he attacked the rim and threw down a dunk over both Antetokounmpo and Bobby Portis. And even though the Bucks pulled ahead, the Clippers never led the lead get of reach as they headed into the fourth quarter.

The Clippers kept the game close in the final period, until the final few minutes when Damian Lillard took over. Lillard hit a few three-point shots and the Clippers were unable to answer.

Following the game, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue spoke about the difficulty of missing two stars while the Bucks had both of theirs.

“Those two guys, they’re great players, we understand that. The had a good game,” Lue said. “I thought Dame set the tone early, scoring the basketball, a couple of threes and then took over the game late. Once he got it going, it’s hard to stop him. We tried to blitz, we tried to fire, tried to do some different things but he had it going and made some big shots.”

If there were positives to take away from this game, it was the contributions from some of the seldom-used guys like Hyland and Boston. Obviously there’s a level of rust and getting up to speed that comes with not having played in a while, but both players answered the call as best they could.

“I thought they did a good job with their pace, activity, playing hard, scrapping and competing, I thought they did a really good job,” Lue said. “All our guys coming off the bench did a really good job of just being in a fight, scrapping and competing and you love to see that.”

Clippers vs. Bucks Game Recap: Valiant Effort Falls Short
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers are coming off a solid win against the Bulls…. just 22 hours ago. They now have to turn around and play a surging Bucks team with almost no rest in yet another NBA scheduling mishap.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 12PM PT

How to Watch: Clippervision, Bally Sports SoCal

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

Projected Starting Lineups

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

Bucks: Damian Lillard – Malik Beasley – Jae Crowder – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Brook Lopez

Injury Report

Clippers: Russell Westbrook out (hand), Kawhi Leonard questionable (groin), Paul George questionable (knee)

Bucks: Giannis Antetokounmpo probable (knee), Khris Middleton out (ankle), Chris Livingston (G League Assignment).

The Big Picture

What’s worse than a weekend matinee game for the LA Clippers? How about two of them back-to-back. That’s the situation the Clippers find themselves in with a quick turnaround against the Milwaukee Bucks.

The Clippers had listed Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and James Harden as questionable for the Bulls game, but they all played, leaving their status for the Bucks game in question. It wouldn’t be surprising to see one, if not all three sitting out.

While the Clippers are fighting for a top seed in the Western Conference standings, health takes priority over everything. The Clippers can’t make a strong playoff run if they’re not healthy. They have a brutal stretch of games this month in terms of scheduling. For an older team like the Clippers, trying to find guys rest here and there is more important than burning them out chasing seeding.

The Antagonist

The Milwaukee Bucks come to town having turned things around since Doc Rivers was first hired as head coach. They’re also playing for seeding. While the top spot may no longer be attainable, they are battling neck-and-neck with the Cleveland Cavaliers for second.

When the Clippers squared off against the Bucks last week in Milwaukee, they blew a double-digit lead in the second half and lost despite the Bucks not having either Giannis Antetokounmpo or Khris Middleton. Middleton remains out but Antetokounmpo has since returned to the lineup.

The Bucks are coming off a bad loss of their own against the Los Angeles Lakers without LeBron James. They’re looking to erase the sting of that game.

This is going to be a tough game regardless of who suits up for the Clippers or not. If there are absences in the lineup, then maybe the Clippers can pull together and get a win of their own. Other teams have had success against the Clippers this season despite being short-handed. Now it might be the Clippers turn.

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Clippers vs. Bucks Game Preview
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers came off one of their best wins of the season to suffer one of their worst losses against the Bucks without Giannis. The cycle of Clippers’ fandom continues.

Summary

I don’t want to talk about or think about this game much, so I’ll keep it brief. The Clippers were excellent in the first quarter, fine for most of the 2nd and 3rd quarters, and then awful in the 4th, getting outscored 40-25 and letting a 15-point 3rd quarter lead turn into an easy-ish win for the Bucks. The Clippers did miss a lot of open shots and went a horrid 16-25 from the line, and a lot of that is justifiable fatigue. But a lot of it is the same stuff we’ve seen from the 213 era for nearly 5 years – inopportune small ball, bad shot selection, and inconsistent defense.

Notes

Bad Small Ball: If we’ve seen it once, we’ve seen it 500 times under Ty Lue. The Clippers went small at the 8:02 mark of the 4th quarter when Kawhi came in for Ivica Zubac. The score was 90-84 Clippers, with the Bucks outscoring them 11-9 in the first 3:58 of the period. The last 8:02 the Clippers went with a Harden-Norm-Amir-PG-Kawhi unit, and got run off the court, with the Bucks outscoring them 29-16 in that stretch. Lue said post-game he went small because Zu was slow on rotations getting out to the perimeter. Well, the Clippers’ small-ball unit was bad defensively, and without Zu’s (or Theis’) interior presence they settled into jump shots over and over against the Bucks zone without making the Bucks work much. It was questionable going small in the first place, and after a few minutes Ty should have given it up. He didn’t, and it was a bad call. Will he learn from it? Seems unlikely at this point.

Script Flipped: Kawhi Leonard and Norm Powell were the only two Clippers with any offensive potency last night in Minnesota, but tonight were the two biggest culprits in the Clippers’ offensive malaise. Kawhi and Norm combined to shoot 8-27 from the field, 3-14 from three, and 3-5 from the line. That’s dreadful, and a good number of those looks were makeable by those guys. As always in the modern NBA, a lot of times games do come down to one team being cold, and the Clippers were frigid in the second half. But they didn’t switch up their gameplan or execute, and paid the price for their lack of flexibility.

No Big Takeaways: For as depressing as games like this are, all of the melodramatic “can’t trust the Clippers” stuff just a game after a super impressive win is tiresome. There are reasons to not trust the Clippers – and Ty Lue’s love of small-ball when this roster just is not built to play small is one of them – but hyperfocusing on a single game is not it. The Clippers absolutely should have won this game, but as I wrote beforehand, it was a schedule loss, and fatigue played a big factor. Kawhi will rarely be this ineffective. Let’s just hope this is the worst loss that the Clippers will have the rest of the year.

Clippers Collapse in 4th To Giannis-Less Bucks, Lose 113-106
Robert Flom

The Clippers will try to top one of their best wins of the season last night with an equally difficult road game in Milwaukee tonight against old coach Doc Rivers.

Game Information

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, Wisconsin

When: 5:00 PM PT

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

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

Projected Starting Lineups

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

Bucks: Damian Lillard – Malik Beasley – Jae Crowder – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Clippers: Russell Westbrook Out (Hand)

Bucks: Khris Middleton Out (Ankle), Giannis Antetokounmpo Questionable (Achilles), Marjon Beauchamp Probable (Back), Chris Livingston Doubtful (Groin)

The Big Picture

The Clippers are coming off one of their best wins of the season, a massive road victory in Minnesota that keeps them in the running for a top three seed. It was ugly, but the Clippers played great defense when it mattered and countered a big early run by the Wolves. They are now just one loss back of the Wolves and Nuggets and two back of the Thunder, while remaining five losses ahead of the 5^th and 6^th seeds. In short, if they can just continue to scratch out wins at an even .500 pace, they should be able to hang onto the 4^th seed. If they want one of those top three seeds, however, they’ll need to be much better than that in the last quarter of the season.

The Antagonist

The Bucks have won five in a row, albeit against a soft schedule, and are once more back in the 2 seed in the East. The Bucks, like every other East team, are way behind the Celtics, but they should be favorites to maintain that second-seed. We can all joke about Doc Rivers (and I will), but he has absolutely turned around the Bucks’ defense, which had been in the bottom third in the league and is 5^th over their last 15 games. The Bucks have tightened up their transition defense significantly, a big deal for an older team that lacks top-end athletes outside of Giannis. Speaking of Giannis, the Greek Freak is the main reason this team is a threat, as Khris Middleton remains out and Damian Lillard has continued a down season (by his standards). With Giannis at his current MVP level, the Bucks can beat any opponent on any given night.

Notes

Schedule Loss: The Clippers are playing a back-to-back and their third game in four nights, with travel on each leg of the journey. The Bucks, meanwhile, haven’t played since Friday, and have been able to relax at home. This is truly the definition of a schedule loss, so while the Clippers should not have that mindset, of course, this is one of the toughest games on their calendar across the entire season. If they look tired or run out of gas in the second half, it is what it is.

Old Friends in Milwaukee: The Bucks went from a team with minimal Clippers’ connections to one with a lot in just a month. In addition to bringing on Doc Rivers as head coach, the Bucks also traded for Pat Beverley at the deadline and picked up Danilo Gallinari off a buyout. Gallo doesn’t really play much as the effective last man in the rotation (he was more of a depth signing), but Pat Bev has been a real contributor (albeit in also fairly limited minutes) due to his defense, rebounding, shooting, and surehandedness with the ball. It’s always good to see those two, and hopefully they can be part of another deep playoff run in Milwaukee.

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Clippers vs. Bucks Preview: What’s Up, Doc?
Robert Flom

The LA Clippers returned home this week from their Grammy road trip and next up in this homestand is the Milwaukee Bucks.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: Clippervision, Bally Sports SoCal

Projected Starting Lineups:

Clippers: Terance Mann – Paul George – Nicolas Batum – Marcus Morris Sr. – Ivica Zubac

Bucks: Jrue Holiday – Grayson Allen – Pat Connaughton – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Brook Lopez

Injury Report

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard out (injury management), Eric Gordon out (trade pending), Mason Plumlee out (trade pending), Bones Hyland out (trade pending).

Bucks: Jae Crowder out (trade pending), Bobby Portis out (knee), Joe Ingles questionable (load management).

The Big Picture

The LA Clippers are going to be coming off a whirlwind of a trade deadline in which fan favorites Reggie Jackson and Luke Kennard were shipped out to the Charlotte Hornets and Memphis Grizzlies respectively. Although the moves made sense from a basketball perspective, losing those two, especially Jackson, is sure to evoke some sentimental feelings from the fanbase.

At the end of the day though, the moves were necessary and the players acquired should help the team in the immediate future. The trade is still pending though, and so the new additions in Eric Gordon, Mason Plumlee, and Bones Hyland will not make their debut against the Bucks.

That leaves the Clippers rotation a little short-handed, especially with Kawhi Leonard on the injury report with injury management. The Clippers for the most part have been playing better since that losing streak they were mired in when they left for their road trip.

There are still some issues that are present, most notably the Clippers tendency to go cold at inopportune times and stagnant offense. In the Clippers last game against the Bucks on the road trip, they had a double-digit lead, but allowed the Bucks to get back into the game and ultimately win behind poor Clipper ball movement and bad shot selection.

But the Clippers lack of a major move at the trade deadline signals either one of two things. Either team brass is confident enough in this group that they feel like when healthy they can compete against anyone in the West, or that a major deal simply was not there for the taking.

If reports are to be believed, it probably leans towards the former, as reports have suggested that Fred VanVleet could have been had from the Toronto Raptors, but the Clippers ultimately balked at the Raptors asking price which would have included Terance Mann and some combination of picks.

The mantra of this team all season has been if healthy, they can play with anyone. A couple of minor tweaks like they made at the deadline was all that was necessary in their eyes. That may very well be true, but a healthy roster has to have some consistency and with the second half of the season fully underway, the Clippers need to start stringing together some wins.

The Antagonist

The Bucks come to town at 38-17 with the second best record in the Eastern Conference standings and having just beat the Los Angeles Lakers on the first night of a back-to-back. It’s possible that the Clippers do not face the Bucks at full strength, as they too have been resting players due to injury management on back to backs.

If that’s the case, then it might be possible for them to squeak out a win despite being short-handed themselves. The Bucks at full strength are one of the elite teams in the league, and even a fully healthy Clippers team would have issues with them.

The Bucks are one of the top defensive teams in the league. They are seventh in opponents points per game at 111.8 and third in defensive rating at 110.7. They are powered by Giannis Antetokounmpo, who is having an MVP-caliber season. They are currently on a nine game win streak.

If they do sit players due to injury management and being on the second game of a back-to-back, Antetokounmpo and Khris Middleton are the likely candidates. The Bucks made a splash at the trade deadline as well bringing Jae Crowder to help solidify their wing rotation. He too will be out though as the trade is still pending.

Clippers vs. Bucks Game Preview
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers played great tonight—but only for about three quarters. Giannis Antetokounmpo took over in the 4th and the Clippers’ stars could not respond. Check out our recap of this Clippers-Bucks game below:

Summary

LA started the game well—especially on the defensive end. Ty Lue started with Ivica Zubac guarding Giannis Antetokounmpo, who opened the game 0/5 from the field. But Giannis was able to get some down-hill a few times and the Clippers’ shooting fell off, so the Clippers only found themselves up nine after the first quarter despite leading at 15 points at one point.

The Bucks started the second quarter with a seven point run (13-0 including their run at the end of the first quarter). But the eight minute mark, it was Milwaukee who had the lead. Giannis’ assault on the rim took off once Zubac got his third foul and was replaced by Robert Covington. The Clippers responded with a 10-0 run of their own, though. Norman Powell’s 15 second quarter points held offset Giannis’ 20 in the half, allowing the Clippers to take a seven point lead into half time.

The Clippers started the third quarter with a 9-0 run, prompting a quick Bucks timeout. The runs went back and forth throughout the quarter, including at 13-3 run by the Bucks to end the quarter. That helped take a 21 point Clippers lead down to just nine going into the fourth quarter.

Milwaukee continued to chip away at the Clippers lead steadily throughout the first half of the fourth quarter. Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton came alive for the Bucks, while Giannis continued to dominate. Ty Lue elected to stay with Zubac on Giannis, but Giannis got whatever he wanted: he hit jumpers, drove the lane, and earned several trips to the free throw lane. With 1:47 left in the game, Zubac finally fouled out. Kawhi did fine on Giannis over the last two minutes, but the damage was done. The Clippers too long to change their defensive coverage.

Although Giannis took over in the fourth, the bigger issue was the Clippers’ inability to score down the stretch. They did not score for three straight minutes, missing seven straight shots. With 27.1 seconds left, down one, Ty Lue called a timeout (his last). Kawhi missed a midrange, turnaround jumper (another isolation play with no ball movement). The Clippers got a gift, though, when Giannis threw the ball away. Unfortunately, the Clippers could not make anything of it—Kawhi dribbled the ball for 15 seconds and put up an airball as time expired.

Really, this game came down to Giannis taking over and the Clippers’ stars inability to respond. Kawhi was an abysmal 7/26 from the field (1/6 from three) and only earned one trip to the free throw line (2/2). Paul George went 6/16 from the floor (2/6 from three) and was a miserable 2/6 from the free throw line. Powell, again, was stellar, outscoring the Bucks’ bench with 26 on great efficiency.

Notes

Paul George, 8-Time All-Star: Today, it was announced that Paul George was voted to be an All-Star reserve. To some, this was a bit surprising given that he has only played 38 of the Clippers 55 games (including tonight’s game). But, at the end of the day, the Clippers are a .600+ team when he plays and he’s averaging 23.3 points, 6.1 rebounds, and 5.4 assists. That’s not nothing. And, plainly, his reputation as an elite two-way player is still intact, so guys like Anthony Edwards or De’Aaron Fox would have had to to significantly out-perform him to leap over him.

Trade Deadline Needs: Over the last few weeks, the Clippers have been connected via trade rumors to several point guards. Tonight, though, was reminder that the backup Center position is a much bigger need. When Zubac went to the bench with three fouls, Giannis dominated. Sure, not every team has a Giannis. But guys like Jokic, Sabonis, Zion, Ayton, and even Christian Wood will punish the Clippers if they are relying on Brown, Batum, or Covington to play center off the bench night-in, night-out.

Rotation Update: With Marcus Morris, Sr. back in the lineup, Luke Kennard was the odd man out. The Clippers played two guards (Powell and Jackson) and two forwards (Batum and Covington) off the bench. At the end of this game, though, it looked like the Clippers could have used Kennard’s shooting during those 3:30 minutes when they could not score.

That about does it for this recap of the Clippers’ comeback loss against the Bucks. As always, check out The Lob The Jam The Podcast and Clips ‘N Dip for analysis throughout the week, and follow us on Twitter to watch the game with us!

Clippers cannot hold on, lose 106-105 to Bucks
Kenneth Armstrong

After beating the Bulls, the LA Clippers made the bus ride from Chicago to Milwaukee to take on the Bucks. This game sets off a 13 game stretch against (current) playoff teams. Check out our preview of game 1 of 13 below: 

Game Information

Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee, WI

When: 7:00 PM PT

How to Watch: TNT

How to Listen: AM 570 KLAC

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Terance Mann – Luke Kennard – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Bucks: True Holiday – Grayson Allen – Pat Connaughton – Giannis Antetokounmpo – Brook Lopez

Injuries

Clippers: 
QUESTIONABLE – Marcus Morris, Sr. (ribs)

OUT – John Wall (abdominal)

Bucks: 
OUT – Bobby Portis (knee) and Serge Ibaka (personal)

The Big Picture

The Clippers are playing well: They are 7-3 in their last 10 games, have a winning record on the road, and Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Norman Powell are starting to look like the All Star/ 6MOY caliber players they were promised to be. When those three are playing well, the Clippers can beat anyone.

As it pertains to the Bucks, the Clippers do have a few advantages. As is always the case, the Clippers will have the best wings on the floor. The Bucks do not have a natural wing who can guard Kawhi or PG over the course of the game. They may try Ingles and/or Middleton, though those are not great options. And Middleton is further limited defensively by the fact that he is still returning from injury. Moreover, even though the Bucks have good rim protectors, the Kawhi and PG are elite mid-range scorers, so the Bucks’ defensive strengths are somewhat countered.

The Clippers’ bench should also be a strength tonight. The Clippers are third in bench scoring (thank you, Norm Powell), while the Bucks are 15th. Their bench only scores 34 points per game and have a negative plus-minus.

The Antagonist

On the other hand, the Bucks are one of the best teams in the NBA (34-17 record) and have one of the best players in the league (in NBA history, really). They are the best rebounding team, have the third-best defensive rating, and are top-five in three pointers made.

In respect to matchups, this will be yet another game in which the Clippers will have a disadvantage in the front court. Giannis, of course, will be the best big on the floor, but Brook Lopez is also having a great year. Zubac will be under siege all game unless the Clippers’ wings make a concerted effort to help on the boards and with protecting the rim.

This game will also be the Clippers’ fourth straight road game and fourth game in six days. Although the Clippers have performed honorably so far (save for the Cavaliers game, of course), they would be forgiven for dropping this game given the circumstances.

Note

Last Year’s Wild Night: The Clippers have made this Chicago-to-Milwaukee trip before. Last year, the Clippers pulled off a magical, wild win in Milwaukee after a disappointing loss in Chicago. They were without Kawhi, PG, Reggie, Powell, Morris, and Batum. Nonetheless, they won going away—winning every quarter—because Robert Covington made a franchise record 11 threes en route to a career-high 43 point night. Amir Coffey and Luke Kennard added 32 points and 23 points respectively. It was perhaps the most confusing, wild win in recent Clippers’ history. [To be fair, Giannis, Jrue, and Middleton did not play either.] If you want to re-live that game, check it out here.

Around the NBA: The Clippers go into tonight’s game with a 29-25 record. Here are the rooting interests for the rest of the NBA games on Thursday night:

• Pacers over Lakers
• Cavaliers over Grizzlies
• Nuggets over Warriors
• Pelicans vs. Mavericks: toss up! The Clippers need both teams to lose.

That about does it for this preview of the Clippers’ upcoming game against the Bucks. As always, check out The Lob The Jam The Podcast and Clips ‘N Dip for analysis throughout the week, and follow us on Twitter to watch the game with us!

Clippers vs. Bucks Game Preview
Kenneth Armstrong

No Kawhi Leonard, no Paul George, no Reggie Jackson, no Norm Powell, no Marcus Morris Sr., no Nic Batum, no problem. All the Clippers’ reserves did is go out and break the franchise record for points, outshooting the Milwaukee Bucks’ reserves for a 153-119 victory. Read on for this full recap of the Clippers’ awesome win over the Bucks.

Summary

Life is so much simpler when you make more shots than you miss.

The Clippers did that tonight. Heck, every Clipper but Rodney Hood did that tonight. (And he was 2-for-4.)

Less than 24 hours after playing overtime games in other cities, both the Clippers and Milwaukee Bucks sat their marquee players. (And also some valuable non-marquee players.) But the remaining players still treated fans to an All-Star caliber show.

In a game with flashy but sporadic defense, it was the shotmaking that stood out, and it was the Clippers’ that finished on top. And it was Robert Covington leading the way.

The Clippers’ ballhawking safety took second-billing in their midseason trade with Portland but starred in his role tonight, scoring a career-high 43 points and setting a new franchise single-game record with 11 made threes. When he wasn’t stealing or swatting he was shooting and cutting, and he made the most of his game-high 24 field goal attempts by converting 15.

And yes, if you’re wondering, the vast majority of those came in the flow of proper offense. (The Clippers forced him looks in the last couple minutes to pad the record, but he missed those.) Covington was the key cog in an absolute drive-and-kick machine, and oh-by-the-way he had 8 rebounds, 3 blocks, and 2 steals too.

As for the seven other Clippers to play tonight, nearly every one took over for a stretch. Amir Coffey was the second-most productive, setting a career high with 32 points on 5 made threes. He led the team with 7 assists, 7 free throws made and attempted, 4 steals, and a gaudy plus-41 rating. An alien attending their first basketball game might’ve thought Covington and Coffey were the best basketball players on Earth.

Except when Luke Kennard was. He scored 23 points with 6 assists and 3 deep splashes. Or when Terance Mann was. He recorded 18 points and 5 assists and was at his fill-in-the-gaps best. Or when Isaiah Hartenstein was. He went 14/10/55 in 27 minutes off the bench, and when he wasn’t menacing the Bucks on the boards (6 offensive rebounds) he was faking them out with no-look passes.

As a team, the Clippers shot better than 53% from deep and 60% overall. Do you shoot better when you’re having fun or do you have more fun when you shoot better? It’s tough to tell what was happening there, or who was the real hero, but the Clippers did both things tonight, and maybe they were all heroes.

Notables

–The Milwaukee Bucks played too, although not Giannis Antetokounmpo, Khris Middleton, Jrue Holiday, or Brook Lopez.

–In their absence, Jordan Nwora and Bobby Portis Jr. played starring roles. Nwora was the perimeter threat, shooting his way to a team-high 28 points. Portis rumbled down the middle, piercing the Clippers for 25 points on 60% shooting.

–Old friend Serge Ibaka started for Milwaukee and came up one point shy of a double-double. He was also done dirty by this Terance Mann yam.

— Ivica Zubac was the lone traditional starter to also get tabbed tonight. He was solid as usual, scoring 11. Rodney Hood and Xavier Moon both got some run, combining for 12 points in reserve.

— This was the Clippers’ final road game of the season. They get to stay in their own beds until the play-in round.

Thanks for reading this recap of the Clippers’ record-setting night in Milwaukee. Stay on the lookout for more game coverage and analysis and an episode of TLTJTP soon.

213Hoops is an independently owned and operated L.A. Clippers blog by Clippers fans, for Clippers fans. If you enjoy our content, please consider subscribing to our Patreon. Subscriptions start at $1 a month and support from readers like you goes a long way towards helping us keep 213Hoops sustainable, growing, and thriving.

Clippers vs. Bucks Recap: A Record Night, Of Course
Thomas Wood