The Clippers will find no respite tonight for their struggles, as they take on a talented and surging Hawks team on the road.

Game Information

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

When: 4:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – John Collins – Ivica Zubac

Hawks: Dyson Daniels – Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Zaccharie Risacher – Onyeka Okongwu

Injuries

Clippers: Bogdan Bogdanovic Questionable (Hip), Bradley Beal Out (Hip), Derrick Jones Jr. Out (Knee), Jordan Miller Questionable (Back)

Hawks: Trae Young Out (Knee), Kristaps Porzingis Out (Illness), Jacob Toppin Out (Shoulder), N’Faly Dante Out (Knee)

The Big Picture

The Clippers’ loss to the Heat on Monday was a new low in a season full of them. A late garbage time push by Kawhi Leonard made the final score look more respectable than the game was in actuality, with the low point being a 30-4 run by the Heat in the second quarter that effectively ended the game. The Clippers’ defense remained abominably bad, giving up open threes to the Heat time and time and time again. The Clippers are definitely getting unlucky with opponent shooting, but that doesn’t excuse how weak, lifeless, and disconnected they are on defense, and how rote and boring their offense is. It’s just a total mess, folks, and good box scores by Kawhi Leonard are scant consolation.

The Antagonist

The Hawks, conversely, are riding fairly high. They’re 13-9 despite Trae Young missing most of the season, and are doing it with a combination of strong play on both ends of the court. Jalen Johnson has made the leap into true stardom, regularly scoring 20+ points per game on excellent efficiency while piling up rebounds and assists. His ability to be a true offensive hub has been game-changing with Trae out. Supporting Jalen have been Onyeka Okongwu, who has upped his three-point shooting significantly in the past calendar year and is now a true stretch big men, and Nickeil Alexander-Walker, who is scoring 20 points per game while providing stout defense on the wing. The Hawks are also getting contributions from deeper bench players with Trae and Porzingis out, with Vit Krejci and Mo Gueye being two notable guys that have stepped up in big ways. In short, the Hawks are just a good team. And playing at home against a spiraling Clippers team, they are massive favorites.

Notes

The Hole at Shooting Guard: The Clippers are getting nothing from their traditional shooting guard slots. Bradley Beal, the presumptive starter, played just six awful games before going out for the season with injury. Bogdan Bogdanovic, who seemed like a terrific backup for Beal, has played just nine games due to various injuries, and has only been effective in a few of those games. Jordan Miller, the two-way player that is behind Bogi, has logged only four games because of hamstring injuries. That has forced Kobe Sanders and Cam Christie into action, and while the youngsters have had some flashes, on the whole both are not ready to be NBA rotation players on good teams. The lack of scoring, playmaking, and ballhandling has been evident all season, and until Bogi and Jordan get healthy and stay healthy, it’s likely to remain that way.

Getting a Complete Game: One reason the Clippers’ season has felt so frustrating is that it seems like they have a lot of players who are having at least *ok* seasons, but are just so inconsistent that they can’t line up good performances in one game. If the Clippers can just get more than three of their key players to have strong outings in one game, they’d look a lot better. Maybe it happens tonight, but with the way things are going, maybe not.

Clippers vs Hawks Preview: Hello Darkness My Old Friend
Robert Flom

The Clippers have lost four games in a row in increasingly depressing fashion, and will try to right the ship tonight against a solid Hawks team.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

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

Projected Starting Lineups

Hawks: Dyson Daniels – Nickeil Alexander-Walker – Zaccharie Risacher – Jalen Johnson – Kristaps Porzingis

Clippers: James Harden – Bradley Beal – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Hawks: Trae Young Out (Knee), Jalen Johnson Questionable (Quad), Nickeil Alexander-Walker Questionable (Back), Kristaps Porzingis Questionable (Illness), Luke Kennard Questionable (Illness), Nikola Durisic Questionable (Elbow),

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Ankle), Bradley Beal Questionable (Hip), Jordan Miller Questionable (Hamstring), Yanic Konan Niederhauser Out (G-League), Jahmyl Telfort Out (G-League)

The Big Picture

Through nine games, the Clippers have been one of the worst teams in the NBA. They rank a pitiful 27^th on defense and a merely bad 21^st on offense, putting them in a quadrant of teams like the Wizards, Nets, and Pelicans to be abysmal on both sides of the ball. They can’t take care of the basketball, they don’t rebound, they don’t make effort plays, and they don’t get enough shots up from three. Other than that? They’re doing great! Some individual players have been fine to decent, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts, and a lot of the parts have been bad to awful. It’s been a rough, rough watch for Clippers’ fans.

The Antagonist

The Hawks have been much the same this season as they have the past few years: thoroughly mediocre. Currently ranking 17^th in Net Rating, the Hawks are 10^th on defense (pretty good) and 22^nd on offense (just below the Clippers, i.e. bad). Star Trae Young will be out a while with a knee injury, which boosts the Hawks’ defense but harms their offense significantly. The Hawks have real talent, especially with burgeoning star Jalen Johnson, but have a number of injury-prone players on their roster (including Johnson) and have not really coalesced at this point in the season. All that said, they still look leagues better and more organized than the disheveled Clippers.

Notes

Cam Christie Time: Clippers’ second-year guard Cam Christie played the second half of the first Suns’ loss on Thursday over a couple of the Clippers’ veterans, and was then fully in the rotation over Chris Paul and Bogdan Bogdanovic on Saturday. Christie is only 20 and basically a rookie in the NBA given how little he played last season, but has looked like he belongs. His point-of-attack defense has been solid enough, his shot still looks great, and he’s been active on the court. It’s not like he’s been dazzling, but he’s played significantly better than CP3, Bogi, or Bradley Beal, and it sure seems as though he will continue to get rotation minutes at least until Kawhi returns. Hopefully he remains a bright spot and helps the Clippers maybe win some basketball games.

The Starting Lineup Question: Ty Lue has continued to adjust his rotations amidst the Clippers’ malaise, returning to the Kris Dunn-Derrick Jones Jr. pairing on Saturday in an effort to boost the Clippers’ defense. That attempt largely failed, even though both players had their moments in the loss. The question that’s looming over the team right now is when does John Collins get his chance to start? Yes, Collins has gotten lost on defense at times and has had some sloppy plays on offense when asked to do too much. But his scoring, energy, and sheer athleticism have been boons for the Clippers, and he really should get at least a fair shake at a starting role.

Clippers vs Hawks Preview: Stopping the Bleeding
Robert Flom

The Clippers close out their mini road trip with a visit to Atlanta in what should be a fun game between two teams that swapped notable players for each other at the deadline just over a month ago.

Game Information

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

When: 4:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – Nic Batum – Ivica Zubac

Hawks: Trae Young – Dyson Daniels – Zaccharie Risacher – Mo Gueye – Onyeka Okongwu

Injuries

Clippers: Norm Powell Out (Hamstring), Ben Simmons Questionable (Knee), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League), Seth Lundy Out (G-League), Patrick Baldwin Out (G-League)

Hawks: Trae Young Probable (Achilles), Clint Capela Questionable (Personal), Jalen Johnson Out (Shoulder), Larry Nance Jr. Out (Knee), Kobe Bufkin Out (Shoulder)

The Big Picture

The Clippers pulled off a big win Wednesday night in Miami, improving to victories in four of their last five games. On the positive side, that winning streak combined with a bunch of losses from the Mavericks, Suns, Blazers, and Spurs have more or less solidified the Clippers as a top-nine team in the West. It would take a monumental collapse for the Mavericks or Suns to catch the Clips now. The bad news is that the teams above the Clippers in the standings, in particular the Timberwolves, Warriors, and Rockets, have all kept winning as well, with those squads on six, five, and four-game winning streaks respectively. The Clippers’ floor has been raised during this surge, but their ceiling remains unfortunately low unless they really keep up this level of winning and/or one or two teams ahead of them fall off. Still, they are doing all they can do, and that’s all fans can ask for.

The Antagonist

The Hawks have had a very odd season. They leaped up in the draft lottery to get the first overall pick and took Zaccharie Risacher (having a decent rookie season!). They then traded away Dejounte Murray, who they paid a steep price for in a trade and extension two years and one year prior. Early in the year, star Trae Young was struggling, but fourth-year forward Jalen Johnson was having a breakout season and De’Andre Hunter finally made good on his flashes with a breakout campaign of his own. Then, things shifted, as Johnson went out for the year with injury, and the Hawks traded away Hunter and longtime sixth man Bogdan Bogdanovic at the deadline. That’s a lot of stuff to have happen in less than one year. But here the Hawks are again, still in the play-in race, just like they have been basically every season since the play-in was instituted. It feels like the Hawks are doomed to mediocrity, but they’re a relatively young team, are fun to watch, and don’t have a ton of bad money on their books. There are many, many worse situations in the NBA right now.

Notes

The Return of Bogi: Bogdan Bogdanovic played in Atlanta for 4.5 seasons and was a key piece to their Eastern Conference Finals run in 2021. Bogi was a popular player in the city even though their teams in the years since that run were mostly mediocre, as he was one of the most effective bench players in the league during that time and provided a whole lot of fun moments. My guess is he gets a video montage of some kind, and while I don’t know about a full standing ovation, I think he gets his fair share of applause and cheers. Hopefully he stands out in this one – he’s close with Trae Young and will probably be extra amped for this contest. Bogi probably won’t repeat his 30 point effort from Wednesday night, but a big game would be huge against his former team.

Terance Mann Revenge Game: Terance Mann has been solid for the Hawks since he was traded to Atlanta at the deadline, scoring 9.5 points per game and shooting 64.2% from two (up from 50.8% this season as a Clipper) and 43.9% from three (up from 34.7% on the Clippers) while taking slightly more shots per game. Terance still hasn’t been a big scorer, but his minutes and all of his stats are up, and he’s been a key contributor to several Hawks wins. He will probably be very motivated to play against the Clippers, the only organization he knew until a month ago, and a team that gave him a large extension only to trade him five months later. It might not be a traditional revenge game, but I think Terance will play with some real oomph in this one.

Clippers vs Hawks Preview: A Fun One in Atlanta
Robert Flom

The Clippers are coming off two blowout losses but are back at home and should have a rested James Harden to help end their losing streak… as well as maybe one Kawhi Leonard.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

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

Projected Starting Lineups

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

Hawks: Trae Young – Dyson Daniels – Zaccharie Risacher – Jalen Johnson – Clint Capela

Injuries

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Knee), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League)

Hawks: Trae Young Probable (Hand), Jalen Johnson Probable (Shoulder), Bogdan Bogdanovic Probable (Leg), Cody Zeller Questionable (Personal), Larry Nance Out (Hand), Kobe Bufkin Out (Shoulder)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have lost two games in a row in utter blowouts for the first time this season. While that’s not exactly good news, the losses were not inexplicable. In fact, both games were true schedule losses, and the Thunder loss on Thursday will be one of the toughest games in terms of calendar/opponent that the Clippers will have all year. In short, the Clippers aren’t playing well right now – their turnovers are awful, the defense is slumping, and the team looks tired – but there are real reasons behind those issues. The Clippers certainly need to play better, with the turnovers in particular being extremely frustrating, but I’m not worried yet. And with Kawhi Leonard probably coming back tonight, the Clippers’ entire season is going to shift anyway. Hopefully it’s for the better.

The Antagonist

Despite being 18-16 with some quality wins (I’m writing this before the Hawks’ game against the Lakers last night) the Hawks have a -1.5 Net Rating, suggesting they might be playing a bit above their heads right now. Still, they have been a better team than expected due to a combination of factors – DeAndre Hunter becoming a legitimately very good player out of nowhere, Jalen Johnson taking the leap from good young player to star, and Dyson Daniels moving from fringe rotation player to one of the best perimeter defenders in the NBA. Those developments combined with solid center play, the playmaking brilliance of Trae Young, and decent depth has allowed the Hawks to remain in the East playoff race despite dealing with some injuries. They aren’t great, but they are a good young team on the rise.

Notes

Kawhi Back: It couldn’t be normal. I had a whole paragraph here on how Kawhi was not returning when the Clippers ruled him out Friday afternoon. Now I’m rewriting, as Chris Haynes of Bleacher Report and Shams Charania of ESPN have reported that Kawhi will be likely to make his 2025 debut in this game. Kawhi will be starting, but it’s unknown whether he will have a minutes restriction, and if so, what that restriction might be. Even if he only plays 20 minutes and is not close to peak Kawhi, his size, rebounding, and shooting should immediately make the Clippers better. Welcome back, Kawhi.

Terance Back: In other injury news, Terance Mann will be available for today’s game for the first time in a month, as he last played in a December 3 win against the Blazers. Mann was just starting to play better after a cold start to the year, and his return will allow Ty Lue to go back to a 10-man rotation. Presumably, Mann will be back on the bench unit, which is where he’d played the last 12 games of the season after starting the first 11. However, it will be interesting if the rotations look different now with Kawhi’s (hopeful) pending return, as someone from that top 10 will probably have to be out when Kawhi plays. I’d prefer that someone to be Kevin Porter Jr., who has been one of the NBA’s least efficient scorers and a nightmare to watch, but going small and taking out Mo Bamba makes sense. I also think it’s possible Terance himself does not actually return to the rotation, as he was already seeing reduced minutes before he got injured.

Clippers vs Hawks Preview: Getting Back on Course
Robert Flom

The LA Clippers suffered arguably their worst loss of the season, 110-90, to the short-handed Atlanta Hawks.

Summary

It may not have been a Sunday matinee game, but it sure felt like it. The Clippers energy from the start was non-existent. The Hawks swarmed the Clippers on the glass and did not look at all like a team missing several key players.

Thanks to a big first quarter by Kawhi Leonard, the Clippers only trailed by two, 31-29, at the end of the first period. But the second quarter, when Leonard went to the bench, was when things first got out of hand.

The Hawks took advantage of several Clippers turnovers to get out in transition and get easy buckets. They built a ten point lead and it just kept getting worse from there. The Clippers trailed by as many as 21 points in the second quarter before managing to get it to 61-44 at the half.

For fans expecting some sort of a comeback, it was not to be. The third quarter was more of the same, with the Clippers looking completely out of sync and the Hawks looking like the better team.

While Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue left the starters in for quite some time, he ultimately emptied the bench late in the fourth quarter.

After the game, Paul George admitted that from the outside it appears as if the Clippers think they can just turn on the jets whenever they feel like it, while suggesting a troubling thought this late in the season.

“We want to be a team that’s consistent. We want to establish an identity,” George said. “I’ve always spoke about having an identity and I think it’s extremely important. When your team has an identity, teams know what they’re going up against, and right now I don’t think we have an identity.”

George did mention that there’s a belief among the team that they can figure it out and ultimately get 16 wins in the postseason as has been their goal. But a more consistent and determined effort has to start rather quickly.

“We got to give a better effort. We got to have more intensity and play with just a little more pride,” George said. “I think collectively we got to have a little bit more pride when we step out on the floor.”

Clippers vs. Hawks Game Recap: Season hits a low
David Yapkowitz

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 6:30 PM PT

How to Watch: Clippervision, KTLA, NBA TV

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

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Bones Hyland – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Hawks: Dejounte Murray – Wesley Matthews – Jalen Johnson – Vit Krejci – Clint Capela

Injury Report

Clippers: James Harden questionable (shoulder), Norman Powell questionable (leg), Russell Westbrook out (hand).

Hawks: Trae Young out (finger), Onyeka Okongwu out (toe), Saddiq Bey out (ACL), Kobe Bufkin out (toe), AJ Griffin out (leg/ankle), Mouhamed Gueye out (UCL).

The Big Picture

It’s that time of the season when pretty much everyone on an NBA roster is dealing with some sort of ailment/injury.

For the LA Clippers, they recently had a brief scare when Kawhi Leonard left the arena early against the Minnesota Timberwolves due to thoracic spasms. He’s seemingly okay though, as he’s played in each game since despite being listed as questionable and he did not appear on the injury report ahead of Sunday’s game against the Atlanta Hawks.

There have been a few new additions to the injury report though since that Wolves game. James Harden has missed the last two games with a shoulder issue and he’s once again questionable against Atlanta.

Sixth Man of the Year candidate Norman Powell suffered a leg injury during the Clippers loss to the New Orleans Pelicans and is also questionable.

Thankfully for the Clippers, this Sunday isn’t a matinee game. With a later start, perhaps the energy will be there from the get-go.

The Antagonist

The Atlanta Hawks come to town as the walking wounded. Several key players, including star point guard Trae Young, have all been ruled out due to various injuries.

Even so, this is a team that was competitive despite being incredibly short-handed during the first two games of their current road trip.

But even when relatively healthy, this is a team that is not very good. They’re likely locked in to the final play-in spot even with a losing record.

With both Leonard and George available for this game, this is one the Clippers need to put away early and see if they can get these guys additional rest in the second half.

Disclaimer: 213Hoops may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this post.

Clippers vs. Hawks Game Preview
David Yapkowitz

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.

213Hoops may receive compensation for some links to products and services in this post.

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

The Clippers won their fifth game in a row on Saturday night, beating the Hawks 120-113 behind star performances from Kawhi Leonard and Paul George.

Summary

The Clippers got off to an early lead, mostly behind multiple threes from Paul George, who was sizzling to tart. However, over the first quarter, the Hawks were able to work their way into a small lead of their own, as the Clippers’ offense went dormant over the second half of the period. The bench working their way in did not help matter, and the Clips trailed by six after one.

The Clippers’ bench did not look great on defense to start the quarter, so even though Norm, Nico, and Reggie all hit threes, the Hawks’ lead remained at around the nine to 11 point mark. That all changed when Zu returned for Moussa Diabate, as he strengthened the Clippers’ defense significantly and ate the Hawks up around the rim. PG continued to hit shots and find Zu in the short roll, and the Clippers eventually took the lead back around the mid-way point of the quarter. The rest of the half was frantic, with both teams turning the ball over and going up and down the court quickly. When the dust settled, Kawhi, PG, and Zu (39 of the Clippers’ 58 points) had the Clippers up five at half.

The third quarter was really mostly uneventful outside of Kawhi going off, as he scored 13 points in the period to keep the Clippers ahead. Nobody else on the Clippers really got going, but their defense was effective enough in holding the Hawks to 28 points, maintaining a three-point Clippers lead entering the final frame.

The Clippers had a 9-1 run to start the period sparked by seven points from Reggie Jackson, who looked in control and like he was having a ball. The lead briefly hit 12 after a Norm three before Trae Young restored order, and the Clippers lead was down to seven in the blink of an eye with 8:11 to go. Kawhi Leonard came back in to settle things down, and the Clippers right away got to work, with a Kawhi middy, Norm drive, and Reggie three swiftly getting the lead back to 12. Zu made a couple of free throws and had a dunk after a fantastic hustle effort by him and Mann to keep the ball alive, but a couple Murray drives brought the Hawks to down just 10 with 4:21 to go. Kawhi quickly answered with an and-one, dragging the lead back to 13, but the Clippers then fell apart, turning the ball over three straight times and gifting the Hawks a 9-0 run that brought the Clippers’ lead down to four with 2:09 left. Kawhi got to the line and made both free throws, at which point Nico checked in for Norm. Hunter scored, but PG answered with a very tough jumper, and after a Murray miss, Nico buried a corer three to put the Clips up nine with 49 seconds left. Some poor defense an sloppy execution made things interesting, but the Clippers made their free throws and won 120-113.

Notes

Eight-Man Second Half Rotation: Moussa Diabate filled in for RoCo as the second unit backup center in the first half, but recorded no stats in five minutes and was totally ineffective. In the second, Ty responded by excising Moussa and going with just three bench players. Mann returned early for Zu, allowing a Reggie-Norm-Mann-Kawhi-Nico unit to end the third, with PG coming in for Kawhi in the 4^th. The result was very high minutes for all key Clippers – Kawhi had 39, Zu and PG had 37, Mann logged 35, and Norm, Nico, Luke, and Reggie were all in the low 20s. It worked for this one, but the Clippers can’t to this strategy much, so hopefully RoCo and Morris return soon.

Kawhi and PG, Dominant Again: Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are the driving factors behind the Clippers’ win streak, and both played very well in tonight’s game. George dished six assists to two turnovers while collecting seven rebounds, and his threes and free throws made up for his 7-18 shooting. Kawhi scored 30 on 12-20 shooting and brought in 8 rebounds, all while not forcing the issue and consistently passing early out of double teams. The Hawks, much like all other NBA teams in the past month, simply had no answer for the Klaw. 10 assists to four turnovers isn’t an incredible ratio, but the Clippers will take it, especially on a night the stars scored 55 points on 38 shots. If they continue to play at this two-way level, the Clippers will continue to look a whole lot better.

Terance, Connecting: This was a fantastic Terance Mann game. Although he only scored two points and took three shots in 35 minutes, he collected eight rebounds and handed out seven assists to just one turnover while playing great defense. It would be nice to see him more aggressive in looking for his shot, but when he’s doing stuff like this it’s hard to complain.

Clippers Clip Hawks 120-113, Extend Win Streak to Five
Robert Flom

The Clippers return to the road to take on a surging Atlanta Hawks team, and will be missing at least one key role player.

Game Information

Where: State Farm Arena, Atlanta, Georgia

When: 4:30 PM PT

How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leoanrd – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac

Hawks: Trae Young – Dejounte Murray – De’Andre Hunter – John Collins – Clint Capela

Injuries

Clippers: Robert Covington Out (Personal), John Wall Out (Abdominal), Marcus Morris Questionable (Ribs)

Hawks: De’Andre Hunter Questionable (Illness)

The Big Picture

A four-game winning streak has the Clippers tied with the Pelicans for 4^th in the West and just two games (though four losses) back of the Kings in 3^rd. Their winning streak has come against awful (Spurs), injury-riddled (Lakers), or just decent (Mavs) teams, but the effort, energy level, and vibes ae all far better than they were two weeks ago. The Clippers’ run has been powered first and foremost by their stars – Kawhi Leonard looks like a full-fledged superstar, and Paul George as an All-NBA level sidekick. If those two guys stay healthy and keep playing at this level, the Clippers will keep winning lots of games regardless of what else happens around them. That said, the second push for the Clippers’ winning is improved rotations, with no Moses Brown, few multi-guard lineups, and a whole lot more Robert Covington. The offense has soared, and the defense has been a lot better. For the first time, this feels like the team we all expected.

The Antagonist

The Hawks, too, have turned things around in impressive fashion, and sit at 8^th in the East after winning six of their last eight games. That surge, uncoincidentally, arrived roughly when Clint Capela returned to the lineup after a multi-week absence. While Onyeka Okongwu is good, Capela is a better rim-runner, rim-protector, and rebounder, and he bolsters the Hawks significantly on both ends. Trae Young and Dejounte Murray have both caught fire as well, especially Murray, and the Hawks too now more closely resemble their offseason projected team. Still, their bench isn’t great, and if Hunter is out they will have nobody to put on Kawhi Leonard. The Hawks are a dangerous team, yet the Clippers, even without RoCo and Wall and maybe Morris, have the clear talent edge.

Notes

RoCo Out: Robert Covington was ruled out a day early due to personal reasons, immediately sparking rumors that he is getting traded. While that is a possibility, the most likely reason he was ruled out, is, well, for some personal matter. Let’s just hope that the personal reason is a positive one (wedding, birth, etc.) and not a negative one.

Bench Unit: After spending much of the season out or on the fringes of the rotation, RoCo has been a critical element to it lately, and his absence opens up a spot. Ty Lue has said he would prefer not to go with three guards, though if Morris joins RoCo as an “out” he might not have a ton of choice. If Morris does play, the Clippers could either bring Nic Batum in early for Zubac to go small and then rotate Zu back in with the bench, or they could play Moussa Diabate or Moses Brown. Brown, notably, will be available after being in the G-League for a couple games to conserve his remaining two-way eligibility, so my guess is he slots into RoCo’s spot.

Attacking Trae Young: For as great as Trae Young is offensively, he has a strong case to be the worst defensive player in the NBA. The Clippers are also perfectly built to attack him and the Hawks, as any switch onto Kawhi or PG should mean a feast for the Clippers’ stars. Even if they “stash” Trae on Luke or Terance, those guys need to be aggressive in attacking Trae off the bounce and trying to draw fouls on him. There’s no reason for the Clippers to not relentlessly punish him anytime he’s on the court, especially against their starters, and getting him off the court through fouls would make the Clippers’ path to victory that much clearer.

First Night of Back to Back: As always in the first night of back to backs, there’s some strategy to rotations. If the Clippers are down big in the 3rd, does Ty pull his starters and try to conserve them? Will we see a ton of Kawhi minutes since he’s probably still not playing in the second games of back to backs? Will Luke or PG be playing on the second night? It remains to be seen, but don’t be surprised if the Clippers push very hard to win this one.

Clippers vs. Hawks: Going Back on the Road
Robert Flom