As we enter the last week of the NBA’s regular season, the Clippers’ fate is still up in the air–we know that they’ll at least make some kind of postseason appearance after clinching a top-10 finish in the West with Dallas’ loss Sunday. Currently, the Clippers are 3 losses behind the 4th-place Suns, 2 losses ahead of the 9th-place Minnesota Timberwolves, and 3 losses ahead of the 10th-place Oklahoma City Thunder. Technically, every spot from 4th to 10th is still in play for the Clippers, though 4, 9, and 10 are all extremely unlikely. Passing the Suns is impossible unless the Clippers win all 3 of their remaining games and the Suns lose all 4 of theirs. Similarly, the Thunder passing the Clippers would require the Clippers losing all 3 of their remaining games while the Thunder win all 3 of theirs (this would pull the teams into a tie, with OKC winning the regular season H2H series 3-1). Minnesota’s buffer is only slightly wider, as they could weather one Clipper win or Wolves loss and still pass LAC. But for now, I’m going to set them aside and revisit them later in the week if needed.

While those options aren’t mathematically eliminated, they’re obviously extremely unlikely to happen. The range of outcomes that are much more likely to be in play for the Clippers are spots 5-8 in the Western Conference, where they are currently in a dead heat with the Golden State Warriors, Los Angeles Lakers, and New Orleans Pelicans. All 4 teams currently have 38 losses, with the Warriors and Clippers both holding 41 wins and having 3 games remaining, while the Lakers and Pelicans each have 40 wins and 4 games remaining. The Clippers finish the season with games against the Lakers, Blazers, and Suns. The Warriors still have to play the Thunder, Kings, and Blazers. The Lakers have games left against the Jazz, Clippers, Suns, and Jazz again. And the Pelicans close out their campaign against the Kings, Grizzlies, Knicks, and Timberwolves. At this stage, any combination of these teams could end up tied–in fact, it would be surprising if there wasn’t a tie somewhere in this 5-8 range. So, let’s look at the lay of the land with the possible tie combinations involving the Clippers:

Clippers & Warriors tie

Status: Clippers lead
Win Condition: Clippers clinch with 1 of the following 3 results: Clippers beat Lakers, Kings beat Warriors, Clippers beat Suns
Loss Condition: Warriors clinch with all 3 of the following results: Lakers beat Clippers, Warriors beat Kings, Suns beat Clippers
Explantion: The Clippers and Warriors tied their regular season series 2-2. Since they’re in the same division, if they finish in a 2-team tie, the next tiebreaker is division record. The Clippers are currently 7-7 vs Pacific Division foes, while the Warriors are 6-9. If any of the above 3 games goes LAC’s way, the Clippers will win this two-team tiebreaker on division record. If all 3 games listed above go the Warriors’ way, we would move to the third tiebreaker, which is conference record. The Warriors are currently ahead in conference record and, by nature of the Warrior wins and Clipper losses required to tie the division record criteria, would win the two-team tiebreaker with the Clippers if it came to that.

Clippers and Pelicans tie

Status: Pelicans won
Explanation: The Pelicans clinched the 2-team tiebreaker vs the Clippers by winning the regular season series 3-0.

Clippers and Lakers tie

Status: Clippers won
Explanation: The Clippers clinched the 2-team tiebreaker vs the Lakers by taking a 3-0 lead in the regular season series, with 1 game remaining.

Clippers, Warriors, and Pelicans tie

Status: Pelicans 1st, Warriors 2nd, Clippers 3rd (clinched)
Explanation: In a 3-team tie, the first tiebreaker is combined head-to-head record. The Clippers and Warriors are 2-2. The Pelicans and Warriors are 2-2. The Pelicans beat the Clippers 3-0. Therefore, whether this tie was 5/6/7 or 6/7/8, the Clippers would be going to the Play-In-Tournament, likely either for a “home” game vs the Lakers (who would presumably finish 8th if this was a 5/6/7 tie) or a road game to the Warriors (who would finish 7th if this was a 6/7/8 tie).

Clippers, Warriors, and Lakers tie

Status: Clippers 1st, Lakers 2nd, Warriors 3rd (clinched)
Explanation: So, even though all of these teams are in the same division, we still start with their combined head-to-head records as the first tiebreaker. The Clippers are a combined 5-2 vs the Warriors and Lakers, while the Lakers are 3-4 and the Warriors are 3-5. If the Lakers beat the Clippers in the final game among this group, they’d have the 2nd-best combined H2H record. But even if they lose that game, they’d beat the Warriors for 2nd in this 3-team tie. Once a multi-team tie is broken by a criteria removing at least one team, the tiebreak process resets among the teams who are still tied. So, if on the first 3-team tie criteria the Clippers win and the Warriors and Laker are still tied, they don’t move to the 2nd 3-team tie criteria, they set the Clippers aside and run Warriors/Lakers as a 2-team tie. The Lakers won the regular season series 3-1 and have therefore already clinched 2nd in this hypothetical 3-way tie regardless of the outcome of Wednesday’s game vs the Clippers. If this was a 5/6/7 tie, the Clippers would go on the road against the Suns in the first round while the Warriors hosted (presumably) the Pelicans in the Play-In Tournament. If this was a 6/7/8 tie, the Clippers would secure the 6 seed and the Warriors would have a road game against the Lakers in the Play-In Tournament.

Clippers, Pelicans, and Lakers tie

Status: Pelicans 1st (clinched), Clippers 2nd (currently lead), Lakers 3rd (currently trail)
Win Condition: Clippers clinch 2nd in this 3-team tiebreaker with a win over the Lakers
Loss Condition: Clippers clinch 3rd in this 3-team tiebreaker with a loss to the Lakers
Explanation: Again, we look at combined head-to-head. The Pelicans are currently 4-3, Clippers 3-3, and Lakers 3-4, with one Clippers-Lakers game remaining. If the Clippers win that game, they’ll tie the Pelicans at 4-3 and the Lakers will be alone in last at 3-5. The Lakers would then be removed from the tie, and the Pelicans would win the 2-team tie with the Clippers based on the 3-0 season series win. In that case, a 5/6/7 tie would give the Clippers the 6-seed, while in a 6/7/8 tie their only reward would be hosting the 7-8 Play-In game vs the Lakers.

But if the Lakers win Wednesday’s head-to-head with the Clippers, the Lakers would improve to 4-4 in the combined head-to-head while the Clippers would drop to 3-4. Once again, in a 5/6/7 tie, this would be massively important as the Lakers would be protected from the Play-In Tournament while the Clippers would (most likely) have to host the Warriors in the 7-8 game. If this was a 6/7/8 tie, the 7-8 game would be Lakers-Clippers regardless, and the Lakers getting 2nd in this tiebreaker would just change the designated home team for the game.

Clippers, Warriors, Pelicans, and Lakers tie

Status: Pelicans currently lead, Lakers currently 2nd, Clippers currently 3rd, Warriors clinched last
Win Condition: The Clippers will finish 2nd in this 4-team tiebreaker if they beat the Lakers on Wednesday
Loss Condition: The Clippers will finish 3rd in this 4-team tiebreaker if they lose to the Lakers on Wednesday
Explanation: So, even in the big one, we just add up the combined head-to-head records. The Pelicans and Lakers are each 6-5, while the Clippers are 5-5 and the Warriors are 5-7. Clippers-Lakers is the only remaining head-to-head among this group.

If the Clippers win that game, they’ll join the Pelicans at 6-5 while bumping the Lakers to 6-6. Assuming this is a 5/6/7/8 tie, the Lakers would finish 7th and the Warriors would finish 8th, setting up Warriors @ Lakers in the Play-In Tournament. The Clippers and Pelicans would reset as a 2-team tie, which New Orleans would win, placing the Pelicans 5th and the Clippers 6th.

If the Lakers win that game, they’ll pass the Pelicans, finishing 7-5 to New Orleans’ 6-5, the Clippers’ 5-6, and the Warriors’ 5-7. No further tiebreakers would be needed; the Lakers would be the 5-seed, the Pelicans would be the 6-seed, and we’d have Warriors @ Clippers in the 7-8 Play-In game.

The Timberwolves

I mentioned at the beginning that I would be setting aside the Wolves for now, and I hope that this post illustrates why–adding a 5th team to the mix creates a ton of additional 2-, 3-, and 4-team tie possibilities, in addition to the massive potential 5-team tiebreaker. Since they currently sit 2 losses back of the pack, it’s very likely that a lot of those scenarios will be closed off in the coming days. But if any Clippers-Wolves scenarios are still play heading into the final weekend of the regular season, I’ll be sure to break down the possibilities either in an article here or on my Twitter, where I am doing daily live tweeting of standings watching. For now, it might just be useful to know that the Wolves are 2-2 vs the Warriors, 2-1 vs the Clippers, 2-1 vs the Lakers, and 1-1 vs the Pelicans with a potentially massive final game vs New Orleans on the last day of the regular season.

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Western Conference Playoffs: a look at the Clippers tiebreaker situation
Lucas Hann

After a late start and a long layoff, the Summer Clippers were finally back in action tonight for their second game of the Las Vegas Summer League, where they fell to the Los Angeles Lakers 83-72

The Lakers were led by Mason Jones, who played briefly with them on a two-way contract last season and contributed 15 points, 10 rebounds, and 4 assists tonight. After being tied 62-62 at the end of the third quarter, the Clippers’ offense sputtered in the fourth as they scored just 10 points. Over the course of the game, LAC struggled with offensive efficiency, particularly from the free throw line, where they earned an impressive 33 attempts due to aggressive driving but only converted 20. The Summer Clippers are now 1-1 halfway through their four preliminary games (every team will get a 5th game, schedule TBD). Here’s the scouting report on key contributors:

• Moussa Diabate was probably the Clippers’ best player again, with 9 points and 8 rebounds on 4-6 from the field. He was once again active defensively and on the glass, and scored in a variety of ways, including a corner three in the first half. Like most of the team, it felt like he faded a bit in the second half (LAC won the first half 46-43 and lost the second 40-26). He did have a minor scare in the fourth quarter after an awkward collision with Jay Scrubb left him limping a bit, but he stayed in the game.
• Jason Preston repeated his game 1 performance, showing well as a floor general in the first half before a more anonymous second half. He had 4 assists to 1 turnover before halftime, and 0 assists and 2 turnovers after. Both he and Xavier Moon seemed to not get the ball as much in the second half as the Clippers went away from what had been working for them so far in Vegas, and it can sometimes be hard to fully delineate what’s a lack of assertiveness/control from a point guard vs what’s a lack of discipline/awareness from his semi-pro Summer League teammates who haven’t had a lot of time together. Much like I said after Saturday’s opener, I would love to see him bottle the poise from this one’s first quarter and give us a full game of it.
• Brandon Boston’s game was a bit of a mixed bag. From a game analysis perspective, he was kind of brutal, shooting just 3-12 from the field with really poor finishing around the basket. The Clippers lost this game because their offense stalled, and Brandon’s inefficiency on relatively good attempts was probably the biggest piece of that equation. From a scouting perspective, though, I found his play pretty encouraging. We know that he’s a gifted offensive player who is capable of making a wide variety of jumpshots, and I had said coming into Summer League that what I really wanted to see from him was using his body to get into the paint and make reads. Well, he got to the rim a lot tonight, earning 12 free throw attempts (which I believe is more than he has ever had in NCAA, Summer League, pre-season, G-League, or NBA play). And I actually liked a lot of his drives and the way he used his improved-but-still-not-enough strength to get into strong finishing positions that he couldn’t quite take advantage of. They call them growing pains for a reason, and while tonight was definitely pains, in his overall development as a player I think there’s growing going on too.

• Jay Scrubb had a similar night to Boston in the box score (15 points on 4-11 shooting, 6-9 from the free throw line), but the eye test was a little less kind. He did have several successful scoring drives that were legitimately good moves, but on the whole it seemed like most of his touches were just driving hard left with his head down and lunging wildly into contact to either get an acrobatic finish or some free throws. That’s a good enough Plan A that it’s brought him to this point in his career, but it hasn’t been enough to impress at the Summer League level the last two years and I’m not seeing encouraging signs of him developing any Plan B. Where Boston missed a lot of good shots that are a bit outside his comfort zone as he tries to expand his game, Scrubb seemed to miss a lot of bad shots that are well within his comfort zone, and he wound up with 4 turnovers as well.
• Xavier Moon played with the poise on-ball that you would expect from him and had a nice non-scoring game with 5 assists, 5 rebounds, a steal, and 0 turnovers in 24 minutes. The problem is that he just had an absolute stinker shooting the ball, going 0-8 and not scoring on the night. In the grand scheme of things, this feels more like just “a bad shooting night” than anything meaningful, especially since he got to some of his comfortable spots on the floor, though his physical and athletic limitations restricting his ability to get a steady stream of clean, comfortable looks up is certainly a cap on his NBA ceiling. Overall, I think his poor shooting night says was a major reason why the Clippers lost this game, but doesn’t necessarily say a lot about him as a player from a scouting perspective. It was also interesting to see Shaun Fein play Moon and Preston together in both halves, but particularly for an extended shift to close the game in a four-guard lineup alongside Scrubb and Boston.
• The Clippers’ exhibit 10 players once again featured sparingly. Lucas Williamson saw just four first-half minutes in the 10th man role, grabbing a couple of steals and hitting a three, but also missing a couple of shots and turning the ball over. Michael DeVoe was a DNP after being in that 10th man role on Saturday, and Justin Bean was out of the rotation for the second game in a row. You never know, but the Clippers playing multiple free agents ahead of these three guys that they have under contract seems to suggest that they might not even make it to training camp, let alone opening night.
• Speaking of free agents, Jarrell Brantley had another good performance as the starting power forward but barely played in the second half. With 6 points on 2-3 three-point shooting, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 15 minutes, he was the only Clipper with a positive +/-. Cameron Reynolds made a couple of nice plays as a bench forward, finishing with 8 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals on 3-4 shooting. Reggie Perry had a more pedestrian second game in the backup center position with 7 points and 2 rebounds on 3-7 shooting in 14 minutes, forcing some ill-advised looks. Keaton Wallace had an entirely forgettable 15 minutes of play, missing his only shot and recording no stats aside from two fouls. Isiah Brown and Trey McGowens both didn’t play after having just a few minutes of garbage time on Saturday.

The Clippers continue Summer League play with their third game tomorrow night against the Denver Nuggets at 7pm Pacific. The game is in the Thomas & Mack Center for fans in Vegas and on NBATV for those of us watching from home. The team hasn’t given a public indication yet as to whether or not they’ll play all of their guys tomorrow on the second night of a back-to-back. From a fan perspective, of course, we hope that the big three of Preston, Boston, and Diabate will all play again, but it both makes sense that the team may want to protect their key prospects’ health (especially Diabate with his minor scare tonight) and would give them an opportunity to let some of the guys we haven’t seen much of get some playing time in front of all of the scouts.

As far as Summer League standings go, the Clippers came into today as one of 5 teams without a loss yet. Four of those five played today, and all four lost, leaving the Utah Jazz as the sole undefeated team remaining at 2-0. In order to have a chance at finishing in the top 2 and making the championship game, the Summer Clippers will need to win their last two games to get into what will likely be a multi-team tie at 3-1 that will be decided by point differential. The Clippers and Jazz finish preliminary play against each other on Friday afternoon, so in any scenario where LAC is even in the conversation, there will be no undefeated teams remaining and two spots for 3-1 squads.

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.

Summer League: Clippers fall to Lakers, 83-72
Lucas Hann

Man, the Summer League schedule makers do not want us to have a good time. After not making their Las Vegas Summer League debut until the nightcap of the third (!!) day of the competition, the Summer Clippers then had two days off and won’t play for a second time until the nightcap of the sixth day. LA is one of only three teams to have only played one game so far; both others will play earlier in the day tomorrow. Five teams have already played 3 games, and a whole host of the two-game temas will play their third tomorrow afternoon before LAC’s second tips off. This Las Vegas edition of the Battle of LA between the Clippers and the Lakers will be LAC’s second game and LAL’s third, which seems pretty wonky for an event where each team plays 5 games in an 11-day window. None of this actually matters, I’m just annoyed by it.

Speaking of things that don’t actually matter, if the Clippers win tonight, we’re officially on Summer League Championship watch. There are no Summer League playoffs this year, just a single championship game between the two highest-ranked teams at the end of each team’s four preliminary games (the other 28 teams get a final consolation game, so everyone plays 5). They’re already one of just five undefeated (calling 1-0 undefeated as if it’s impressive is pretty weak, but it is what it is) teams remaining in Vegas, and three of the other four play their next contest earlier in the day tomorrow. LA also plays their fourth game against the Utah Jazz, who are currently 2-0. It’s likely that 4-0 will place a team securely into the championship team without needing a tiebreaker, and there certainly seems to be a chance that 3-1 with an excellent point differential could get you there as well. The Clippers’ 18-point win in their opener was a great start, and they could have a chance to pick up not just another win, but more points in tonight’s game against the Lakers, who are 0-2 with a -11.5 average margin of defeat so far. Again, it really doesn’t matter at all, but neither does anything in the Summer League. If it all doesn’t matter the same, we might as well have some fun.

In order to improve to 2-0, the Summer Clippers will once again rely on major contributions from their trio of rookie and sophomore second-round selections, point guard Jason Preston (7 points, 6 assists in 21 minutes on Saturday), wing Brandon Boston (15 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 steals in 22 minutes), and big man Moussa Diabate (10 points, 7 rebounds in 22 minutes). You can never be sure who is going to play day-by-day in Summer League as teams rotate their lineups to get everyone some opportunities, and it’s very possible that we see some significant movement in this Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back, but my guess (and it’s really just a guess) is that we’ll at least see the big three in the starting lineup again on Tuesday night coming off of two days of rest. On Saturday, they were joined in the starting lineup by Jay Scrubb, who has played sparingly on two-way contracts while dealing with injuries the past two years, and Jarrell Brantley, a 26-year-old forward who was the 50th overall pick in 2019 and also spent two years playing sparingly on two-way deals before launching a career overseas last season. Scrubb played poorly on Saturday, but seems in line for continued chances since he’ll be with the team in training camp, while Brantley played well but might have to take turns with other players as he currently has no deal with the Clippers.

The two key bench contributors in the Clippers’ win on Saturday were backup point guard Xavier Moon and backup center Reggie Perry, but whether or not they’ll reprise their rolls tonight is anyone’s guess–it’s very possible that if the Clippers are planning on giving their draft picks the second night of the back-to-back off tomorrow, they rotate out some of the second unit players tonight to allow third-stringers a chance before starting the backups on Wednesday. The guys we didn’t see (until the final few minutes of garbage time) on Saturday were point guard Isiah Brown, defensive-minded wings Trey McGowens and Lucas Williamson, and forward Justin Bean. I would definitely expect to see more of Williamson and Bean going forward, as they (along with backup shooting guard Michael DeVoe, who struggled in a bench role on Saturday) are on Exhibit 10 deals with a chance to come to training camp and earn a two-way contract… but in order to fit all their guys within the 20-player training camp roster limit, at least one of those three is going to have to be released at the end of Summer League.

Whatever combination of Summer Clippers wind up in the rotation on Tuesday night, they’ll go up against a Summer Lakers squad that is as devoid of drafted talent as you’ll see in Vegas–though as the Clippers themselves learned when they blew out a bunch of Memphis’ first round picks on Saturday, that doesn’t always mean much. The sole Summer Laker to be drafted was wing Max Christie, who LAL took 35th overall last month. Everyone else on the roster went undrafted, though a handful have had a cup of coffee in the NBA, including Mason Jones, who signed on with the Lakers as a two-way player mid-season last year and got a few NBA games under his belt. Two other names to keep an eye on: undrafted rookies Scotty Pippen Jr and Cole Swider, who are (as it now stands) set to be the Lakers’ two-way players next season. Christie, Pippen, and Swider are leading the team in minutes so far in Vegas by a solid margin, with Jones in fourth. The team is 0-2 so far in Vegas, but did prove themselves capable of winning by going 2-1 in the California Classic Summer League last week.

The Summer Clippers and Summer Lakers face off in the last game of the night on Tuesday, at 8pm Pacific time in the Thomas & Mack Center and on ESPN.

Clippers vs Lakers Summer League Game Preview & Thread
Lucas Hann

Putting the game away early with seven players finishing in double-figures, the L.A. Clippers (45-22) completed their season sweep of the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, 118-94. Similar to the Clippers’ previous 104-86 win over their short-handed hallway foes back in April, there wasn’t too much to analyze in this one. Paul George led the way for LAC with a team-high 24 points (8-12 FG, 3-5 3PT), seven rebounds and five assists. Kawhi Leonard continued to ease his way back up to speed, adding in 15 points, eight rebounds and six assists. The Lakers (37-30) were paced by Kyle Kuzma, who finished with a game-high 25 points, five rebounds, four assists and two steals. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Lakers game recap.

Summary

The No. 1 perimeter shooting offense in the NBA showed its teeth in the first quarter as the Clippers scored 10 of 19 looks from the field (52.6%), shot 6-for-11 from deep (54.5%) and converted on 3 of 4 trips from the charity stripe (75%). The Clippers’ drive-and-kick playmaking was on full display, especially from Kawhi and PG, as the shot-making and overall ball-movement from LAC’s supporting cast was textbook of a Tyronn Lue-led team. Although the Clippers ultimately picked up three offensive fouls en route to 22 sloppy turnovers the rest of the way, the story of the game was the early return of Anthony Davis to the Lakers’ locker room. Early in the game, Davis appeared to tweak his ankle on the sideline scorer’s table after taking a three. While he did remain on the floor after retightening his shoe, Davis did not look like himself, shooting just 2 of 9 from the field almost exclusively on jumpers outside of the paint before coming out of the game. After leading by as much as 13, the Clippers led 29-20 through one.

In the second frame, Rajon Rondo and DeMarcus Cousins were terrific in their stints to set the tone for the Clippers off the bench. Boogie was unfazed matching up with Montrezl Harrell, using his size and strength to finish with ease down low. Cousins was also a clear beneficiary of the passing of Rondo once again, who connected with three different Clippers from three. PG-13 shot perfect in the period, dropping 12 points with three deep balls. With the Lakers sorely missing their two stars and any sort of primary ball-handler, the Clippers exploded out to a 23-point lead at the break—the largest first-half lead in the NBA this season.

By a margin of 29-27, the Lakers edged out the Clippers in the third as the intensity level of the game plummeted with Davis officially ruled out by the Lakers with back spasms. Led by Kuzma, LAL started out 4-for-6 from the field as the Clippers took their foot off the gas pedal a touch. Perhaps the only real takeaway in the period here was Zubac dominating Drummond on both ends for a stretch, playing stifling interior defense while continuing to consistently finish above the rim. After the Lakers held the Denver Nuggets to 89 points on Monday night, the Clippers surpassed that mark with a 92-71 advantage heading into the fourth.

With missed pair of Harrell free throws, an Alfonzo McKinnie offensive rebound and a 24-second shot clock violation, the opening sequence of the fourth quarter pretty much summed up what went on the rest of the way. Leonard and George did check back in, but the Clippers probably would’ve remained in the driver’s seat either way up 20-plus. Soon enough, Terance Mann finally checked in along with Yogi Ferrell and Daniel Oturu as the Clippers reclaimed possession of the west’s No. 3 seed.

Clippers vs. Lakers Game Notes

• T-Lue Rotation Tinkering: The Clippers played more of a traditional substitution pattern tonight, rolling with both Leonard and George on the bench for extended minutes as Lue continued to experiment with different lineups. Lue mentioned after the game that once Leonard is healthy enough to play longer stretches, however, he will go back to staggering the 213 star duo more once again. The return of Leonard seems to have mainly impacted the minutes of Terance Mann, whose playing time has continued to decrease significantly over the past three contests. Postgame, Lue said that he spoke with Mann on Wednesday about how the team will be going more with Luke Kennard due to spacing.
• The PG1 Slot: Reggie Jackson started at point guard once again as Patrick Beverley increased his playing load up to just about 18 minutes. With Lue reiterating that Rondo will continue to come off of the bench, it remains to be seen how the starting job will shake out, especially with both Jackson and Beverley looking pretty comfortable tonight.
• Up Next: The Clippers will host their final home game of the regular season in a matinee against the New York Knicks at the Staples Center on Sunday, May 9 at 12:30 p.m. PT.

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. Lakers Recap: Clips Sweep Depleted Lakers
Ralston Dacanay

After breaking a three-game skid against Toronto, the L.A. Clippers (44-22) look to sweep the season series against the LeBron-less Los Angeles Lakers (37-28) in the national spotlight Thursday night. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Lakers game preview.

Clippers vs. Lakers Game Information

Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
When: 7 p.m. PT
How to Watch: TNT, AM 570 L.A. Sports, 1330 AM Tu Liga

Projected Starting Lineups:
L.A. Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Marcus Morris Sr. – Ivica Zubac
Los Angeles Lakers: Alex Caruso – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Kyle Kuzma – Anthony Davis – Andre Drummond

Injury Report:
L.A. Clippers: Amir Coffey – OUT ( Health and Safety Protocols), Serge Ibaka – OUT (Lower Back Tightness)
Los Angeles Lakers: Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – PROBABLE (Right Ankle Sprain), Anthony Davis – PROBABLE (Right Calf Strain), Jared Dudley – OUT (Right MCL Tear), Marc Gasol – PROBABLE (Left Pinkie Finger Volar Plate Fracture), Talen Horton-Tucker – OUT (Right Calf Strain), LeBron James – OUT (Right Ankle Sprain), Kyle Kuzma – PROBABLE (Left Thumb Sprain), Dennis Schröder – OUT (Health and Safety Protocols)

The Big Picture

With just six games left, the biggest question mark surrounding the Clippers is something that feels all too familiar—will they have had enough time to gel together on the court before the playoffs? While it’s great to see Patrick Beverley and Kawhi Leonard back on the floor, it’s clear that it’s going to take time to reintegrate them into the system as well as ramp them back up to their usual minutes. Serge Ibaka remains without a timetable to return and has missed L.A.’s last 26 games. As Beverley put it bluntly on Tuesday, the Clippers have no other option but to play hard and try to establish their identity on the fly in this final stretch.

Returning to the win column after dropping three straight games to Western Conference foes, the Clippers also find themselves with much out of their control in terms of postseason seeding. Moving up feels unlikely as the west’s Top 2 seeds are firmly out of reach and the No. 3-seeded Denver Nuggets own the two teams’ tiebreaker. However, another question to ask is should the Clippers even want to move up if it means they matchup with the Lakers in the first round? Both teams are pretty much tied at the hip, regardless of the result tonight. A Clipper win would put them in third and keep the Lakers in sixth. A Laker win would boost them up to fifth and keep the Clippers in fourth. According to Paul George on Tuesday, LAC remains motivated to attain its highest seed possible, regardless of where the defending champs finish.

The Antagonist

With eight players listed on their injury report heading into tonight, the bumped and bruised Lakers aim to avoid being swept by the Clippers during the regular season for the first time since the 2015-16 season. Despite LeBron James and Dennis Schröder being out, this game remains a must-win for the sixth-place Lakers, who are on the verge of dropping into the gauntlet play-in tournament. Although the Lakers have lost seven of their last 10, both with and without James in the lineup, they are coming off of a quality win over Denver on Monday night.

Sending the message “we’re back,” both with a dagger block and verbally after the Lakers’ win over the Nuggets, Anthony Davis continues to lead the charge for the purple and gold after missing a large chunk of the season with a calf strain and Achilles tendinosis. Through five contests versus the Clippers as a Laker, Davis has averaged 26.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, a steal and a block per game on 47/21/84 shooting splits. Beyond having Davis dominate, the win conditions for the Lakers become muddied as the team continues to try and reinvent itself in the short term with both of their primary ball handlers out. Alex Caruso continues to take on a much-expanded traditional point guard role, Kyle Kuzma and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope will be expected to shoulder a larger responsibility of the scoring and the minutes logjam at center between Andre Drummond, Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell continues to be something that head coach Frank Vogel determines depending on the night.

Clippers vs. Lakers Game Notes

• Klawing Back to Form: Although the Lakers have posted a Top 3 defensive rating since Leonard’s arrival in L.A., the hallway matchup seems to especially bring out the best in him. In his six games against the Lakers as a Clipper, Leonard is averaging 27.5 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.2 assists on 48/43/91 shooting splits. It would be a welcome sight to see Leonard take over in this matchup as he usually does. In addition to some subdued performances by his loftly standards in his first two contests back, Leonard’s minutes limit has made it tough according to head coach Tyronn Lue, who normally prefers to play him through the entire first quarter of games. With PG filling in for that rotation role in the meantime, the Clippers have had to use lineups they’ve never used before while playing Leonard more with the bench unit.

• Starting at Point Guard…: It was a pleasant surprise to have Beverley back in the mix last time out, but with him still working to get his legs back, Reggie Jackson remained in the Clippers’ starting five. Although this makes plenty of sense for now, it appears the starting spot might actually be up for grabs. Lue said Tuesday that the team is going to try to see who fits with who in different lineups in order to see what works best in terms of who starts at the one.
• Can Zu Get Much Higher?: The Clippers have been extremely fortunate to have an ironman and well-above-replacement-level center in Zubac, who hasn’t missed a game for L.A. this season. Albeit Zu has surely solidified his starting position in the playoffs and has already demonstrated he is as good as anyone in the league in staying vertical with his contests, Lue mentioned he thinks Zublocka needs to block more shots and has made that a point of emphasis to him this year. The Clippers will continue to heavily rely on Zubac’s bigman defense tonight against both ADs, Gasol and Trez.

Feel free to stick around and chat down below as this article’s comment section will serve as our live game thread tonight against the Los Angeles Lakers. Sign up for a free account and join the conversation!

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. Lakers Preview: Seeding Scramble of L.A.
Ralston Dacanay

The good guys got an easy tally in their column in the Battle of LA Sunday afternoon, as the Clippers got a lucky match-up against a Lakers team down both Anthony Davis and LeBron James and took advantage in expected fasion, 104-86. It was an uneventful contest that saw the Clippers jump out to an early lead and hold the offensively-deficient Lakers at bay for the remainder of the contest. Let’s take a peek at the individual performances with our Clippers and Lakers player grades!

Clippers Starter Grades

Reggie Jackson: B. The 2-8 shooting in the box score is kind of glaring, but I think it’s a little unfair to fixate on: two of his misses came on a play where he missed a contested driving layup in transition, and then got a fingertip on the rebound to attempt a putback. Another miss came on a drive where he pulled Marc Gasol out of position, Gasol technically blocked his shot, and Ivica Zubac was able to easily gobble up the offensive rebound and dunk it home. Overall, Reggie had a perfectly fine performance and deserves credit for his role in the team’s great defense as well–even though this Lakers crew is dismal offensively, it’s still a group of NBA players and this was LAC’s best DRTG game of the year and LAL’s worst ORTG game of the year, even significantly worse than their other games without Davis and James.

Paul George: B-. I didn’t get around to grading the Clippers’ loss to the Denver Nuggets due to a little injury of my own, but if I had, I would have given PG a pass on his bad night as he was clearly physically limited by his foot injury, and willed himself into the lineup despite being listed as out because it was a big game. That said, I didn’t feel the same type of mobility limitation coming from him in this game. It just felt like a quiet night for LAC’s second star, which is fine because the team had a healthy lead throughout and didn’t need him to shift into gear. But 16 points on 6-14 shooting, just 2 free throw attempts, and 3 assists to 5 turnovers is rather uninspiring. Bumped from a C+ to B- because of his contributions to the team’s overall defensive performance.

Kawhi Leonard: A-. Kawhi was similarly quiet offensively, but far more productive overall: his 19 points on 8-15 shooting is only marginally better than Paul’s marks, but Leonard also flirted with a triple double as he contributed 10 rebounds and 8 assists while committing just 2 turnovers. On the cusp of B+/A- before getting the nod due to the overall team defensive performance.

Marcus Morris: A. So, Paul and Kawhi only combined for 35 points? Well, the production had to come from somewhere to lift the Clippers to 104 points, and a radioactive Marcus Morris was just what LAC needed. Marcus had a super-efficient 22 points on 9-13 shooting and also grabbed 7 rebounds, tied for his season high. I don’t think the Clippers will win many playoff games when Marcus outscores Paul and Kawhi, but it’s a long season and you take games like these from your supporting cast where you can get them.

Ivica Zubac: A. There should be little doubt in the minds of anyone who watches the Clippers that Zubac is the team’s third most important player and absolutely instrumental to their success on the defensive end. While his stat line tonight wasn’t anything special (6 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 blocks), his presence on defense has meant everything to the Clippers in this recent stretch:

Clippers Bench Player Grades

Terance Mann: B-. It was an uncharactersitically inefficient outing for Terance, who mostly got the shots you’d want him to get but got blocked twice around the basket and had one missed putback dunk attempt. In fact, his only make around the basket was a really wild, flailing driving hook shot in the waning possessions of garbage time. Still, he was attracting a lot of attention on his drives, which is a good counterweight to the Clippers’ perimeter-oriented attack, and I really like that he had no hesitation on his four corner three attempts–he only made 1, but he’s shooting 41.2% from the corners this season. Those four 3PA mark a career high, and likely a good simulation of the shots he’s going to have to make to stay on the court in the playoffs.

Nicolas Batum: A-. It was a low-minutes outing for the Clippers’ second-unit veterans as the team pulled away in the second half, but Nic had a nice all-around performance in this game. I have been a bit disappointed that we’ve seen less of his playmaking chops as the season has gone on, so I was happy to see him come away with 4 assists in this game–nothing fancy, just making the extra pass to a corner shooter or driving a closeout and picking out the right pass to a teammate when help comes. With his three-point shooting regressing to expected levels in March after a red-hot opening half of the season, the ability and decision-making to aggressively drive against closeouts and create good looks for others is going to be more valuable than Nic taking high volumes of threes for himself.

Luke Kennard: B+. Luke had a really nice outing, but he doesn’t get full appreciation for it in this space because his contributions came almost exclusively with the Clippers holding a big lead in the second half. It was certainly still valuable, in a game that was hovering in the teens for the entire fourth quarter, that Luke led the effort to keep the Lakers at bay by scoring all 15 of his points in the final 13:04 of game time, but it’s just a little less meaningful than if he had put forward this kind of productivity in more intense moments. He did get some clean looks as a screener for Kawhi Leonard in their shared fourth quarter moments in an action that looks promising for continued future use by Ty Lue.

Patrick Patterson: B. The real problem with Patterson’s recent run of play isn’t really his fault–he’s just not a center, and nobody expects him to provide rim protection. It still really hurts the team when he’s in at center, because they then have no rim protection. He was fine in this game, doing his best to fill a role he isn’t suited for at a position he doesn’t play while his physical tools abandon him. The Clippers’ Patrick Patterson problem has more to do with what they aren’t getting from their two open roster spots than what they aren’t getting from him.

Rajon Rondo: NG. A mulligan here for the Clippers’ newest player (a title he won’t hold for very long, as DeMarcus Cousins should sign his contract today). It’s always a great and inspiring narrative when someone has an amazing debut–imagine if Rondo had like a 10-10-10 triple-double against his former team in his LAC debut? The reality is that adjusting to a new team and role mid-season while coming off an injury (and maybe picking up a new one?) is incredibly tough, so some rust and errors were to be expected today. We can, and will, have a ton of conversations about the strenghts and weaknesses that Rajon brings to the team once he gets going, but I don’t think fixating on 4 turnovers and 4 fouls in his 13-minute debut is useful when it’s unlikely to end up being meaningful.

No Grades

Daniel Oturu and Amir Coffey both got in the game for a few minutes of garbage time, while Patrick Beverley, Serge Ibaka, and Jay Scrubb are all sidelined with injuries. Beverley should hopefully return to the lineup relatively soon, while Ibaka might require a little more time, and Scrubb is unlikely to debut this season.

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. Lakers Player Grades
Lucas Hann

During the playoffs, I got in the habit of writing takeaways after games, but I think following last night’s Clippers vs Lakers game it might make more sense to start a new series: player grades. The idea behind playoff takeaways is that in a series, you have (at most) 7 games, between the same two teams, where both are constantly learning and tweaking and adjusting with a tiny margin for error. With a magnifying glass on every possession from the game prior and extremely high stakes on every possession of the next game, you sometimes have to be willing to make reactive decisions based on small samples–and Doc Rivers’ unwillingness to do that cost the Clippers a number of winnable playoff games.

The regular season is a different game. It’s about process, not results, and you have the opportunity to test out players, roles, lineups, and schemes over extended sample sizes. Really, we shouldn’t have a bunch of big takeaways from one game, and Ty Lue should hopefully not make multiple significant adjustments on a game-to-game basis–that would prevent the team from building anything consistent long-term. So instead, let’s just check in on how each guy did last night:

Clippers Starters Grades

• Patrick Beverley: B-. Bev really shouldn’t get a B-, because he took himself out of the game with easily avoidable fouls and was only able to play 22 minutes. He’s always going to have a high foul rate because of his constant defensive engagement at the point of attack, which is exactly why unnecessary fouls–like his two moving screens in the first half–are particularly egregious mistakes. But his four offensive rebounds, including some that came in big moments in the second half, give him a bump.

• Paul George: A-. Harsh for the player of the game? Maybe. But on a night where a player of George’s caliber is as red hot as he was tonight, he should be scoring a lot more than 33. In OKC in 2019, he had 13 games with 40+ points. Last year, he only had one. If he wants to make 33-point nights consistent instead of rare outlier shooting performances, he needs to get to the rim and free throw line more consistently instead of having quiet halves like the first half tonight. Plus, his 5 turnovers were a big part of LAC’s second quarter stagnation.

• Kawhi Leonard: C+. He had some redeeming moments in the third quarter, but I think Kawhi might have been the main culprit in the team’s second-quarter collapse. After the ball moved freely in the first, Kawhi responded to a bit of pressure in the second by calling his number repeatedly with little success. All in all, he shot less than 40% from the field while taking way more shot attempts than any other Clipper, and just 3 assists to his 3 turnovers.

• Nicolas Batum: B+: Okay, obviously we’re grading on a curve here, but Batum was really solid tonight starting in place of Marcus Morris. I’d still rather see a player of his caliber in a bench role, but 3 points, 6 rebounds, a team-high 6 assists, 2 steals, and just 1 turnover in 28 minutes is nothing to roll your eyes at. With performances like this he will quickly become this team’s clear 9th man.

• Serge Ibaka: B+: It’s easy to like what Serge brings to the Clippers as an offensive threat at center, but he struggled a bit defensively tonight (though LAC’s switch-heavy scheme did him no favors by leaving him on an island against LeBron James). Ultimately Zubac’s superior defending kept Serge to just 21 minutes.

Clippers Bench Player Grades

• Reggie Jackson: F. It’s hard to grade just 3 minutes, and I debated not giving him a grade for this game because he played so little. But since the reason he was pulled so quickly and didn’t return in the second half was because of how awful he was, I think it’s worth a note. Simply put, Reggie has no place on an NBA court if he can’t somehow stop being the worst decision-maker at guard I’ve ever seen.

• Lou Williams: B. A perfectly solid night for Lou, who was somewhat quiet with 11 points and 3 assists but had an efficient outing. If LAC can get this out of him on the “off” nights, it’s gonna be a great year.

• Luke Kennard: C-. I’m giving Luke this grade based on his performance, with the caveat that he deserves and exceedingly long leash after going over a full calendar year between his last NBA action and now. But he missed all three of his threes, was overall too passive offensively, and while he made some plays defensively (2 steals and a block), the Lakers made a point of picking on him at that end. This was definitely a below-average outing for Luke.

• Patrick Patterson: D. It wasn’t Patrick’s night, as he was a major liability defensively and missed a bunch of open threes, including one really awful brick on a wide-open kick-out that didn’t even draw iron. There will be nights where he hits more shots and has more favorable defensive matchups, but while the Clippers survived his minutes he didn’t look like a player who would warrant minutes when Marcus Morris returns.

• Ivica Zubac: A-. This was a great Zu game, as he came in and bolstered the team’s defense while also contributing to the attack. 11 points on 4-5 shooting from Zu is gravy, while his main contributions came as a deterrent at the defensive rim. Ty Lue noted postgame the impact that Zubac made on the game, posting a team-best +17 in 27 minutes, playing more than starter Serge Ibaka. Single-player +/- is always a noisy number but there’s something to be said for Zu’s knack to always make the team better when he’s on the floor. A slight knock for only having 3 defensive boards in 27 minutes, well below his norm.

No Grade

Terance Mann, Amir Coffey, and Mfiondu Kabengele all got on the court for a couple of possessions in the final minute but it wasn’t even a solid enough chunk of minutes to be considered garbage time. Mann also played one defensive possession to close the 1st quarter. For Coffey, it was the first of 50 games he’ll be allowed to spend on the active roster this year. Rookie Daniel Oturu stayed on the bench when the garbage time crew came in. Marcus Morris didn’t play with right knee soreness.

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 Lakers Player Grades
Lucas Hann

Thanks to a phenomenal shooting night from Paul George, the Clippers were able to beat the Lakers on opening night, spoiling their championship ring celebration with a 116-109 win in their return to Staples Center on Tuesday night.

George finished with a game-high 33 points on blistering 13-for-18 shooting from the field, including 5-for-8 from 3-point range. George’s 5 triples were the most in franchise history in a season opener. With a lot to prove this season, PG had a resounding opening night.

The Clippers also got 26 points, 6 rebounds, and 6 assists from Kawhi Leonard, who struggled offensively in the first half before finding his legs after the interval. No Clipper other than George (36) and Leonard (34) eclipsed the 30-minute mark as Ty Lue effectively ran a 9-man rotation for most of the game.

The Clippers were able to pull out the wire-to-wire victory thanks to lackluster performances from the Lakers’ own superstar duo. LeBron James finished with 22 points, 5 rebounds, and 5 assists on 7-for-17 shooting from the floor, while Anthony Davis chimed in with 18 points and 7 rebounds in a weirdly quiet night.

To hear 213Hoops’ The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast breakdown of the game, check out the link here.

Blazing Start for LAC

LAC got out to a hot start in this one, building a lead as big as 22 points before the end of the first quarter. The Lakers came out sluggish following their pregame ring ceremony, while the Clips played with a good bit of intensity on both ends of the floor.

The Clippers finished the first quarter shooting 70% from the field, while the Lakers were held to sub-40% shooting. Things took a turn in the second frame, however, as the Lakers were quickly able to whittle into LAC’s early advantage. The Clips’ marksmanship plummeted all the way down to 28% in the second period, and their lead had been trimmed to just 2 by halftime.

Leonard chose to pick his spots early, and he seemed more than happy to settle for jumpers instead of attacking the rim. He had a couple of nice moments bullying his way to the bucket against an extremely washed looking Wes Matthews in the second quarter, but he really picked things up after halftime.

George Took Over Late

The teams traded blows for most of the third quarter before George essentially took over the game. Once PG subbed back in for Kawhi with 2:27 to go in the frame, the Clippers took off. George closed the quarter by scoring 7 straight points to help extend the Clipper lead to 11 points entering the fourth.

He didn’t stop from there. George poured in another 8 points, including a 4-point play, before the halfway mark of the fourth. That 4-point play put the Clippers up 13, which was essentially when Frank Vogel decided to pull the plug.

Obviously, it was great to see George show out on opening night, especially considering how much garbage he’s taken since his underwhelming showing at Disney World. He was the best player on the floor in this game by some margin, and the Clippers are obviously going to need more where that came from if they want to ultimately get over the hump this season.

Early Takeaways

It was also interesting to see how some of Lue’s rotations worked in his first real game in charge. Ivica Zubac (27) wound up playing more minutes off the bench than Serge Ibaka (21) did in a starting role, and with good reason. They can probably play alongside one another at times this season if necessary, but splitting the center minutes certainly makes sense. baka had a solid offensive game shooting 5-for-7 overall and 2-for-3 from deep, but he struggled a bit defensively.

Zubac played solid defense against Davis at times in this one, and his size is going to prove troublesome for opposing second units as long as he’s playing in a backup role. Zu finished with 11 points and 6 rebounds, and his +17 mark tied George for a game-high.

Nicolas Batum (28) and Patrick Patterson (20) played the entirety of the power forward minutes here. Neither of them really brings much to the table, and neither of them will play nearly as much whenever Marcus Morris comes back into the fold. Reggie Jackson logged a total of 3 minutes in the first half, and those minutes were as dreadful as ever. Fortunately, Lue got the picture early and decided against bringing him back into the game after that.

Patrick Beverley led the way with 4 offensive rebounds, which is a very Patrick Beverley thing to do. Luke Kennard didn’t make much of an impact in the box score in his 21 minutes off the bench, but he had some nice moments slicing his way to the basket and making plays in the second half. Once the shooting comes around, it’s obvious what he’ll be able to bring offensively.

In case you were wondering, the Lakers got 17 points, 10 rebounds, and 3 assists out of Montrezl Harrell in his first #RevengeGame against the Clippers. Harrell’s energy was useful, but Zubac and the Clippers were able to exploit his defensive and rebounding shortcomings while he was out there, too.

All in all, this was a great way to start the season. Paul George needed that kind of a game to get the bad taste of the bubble out of his mouth, which should only help his confidence moving forward. The Clips will have a day off tomorrow and Thursday before closing out the 5-game Christmas Day schedule in Denver on Friday night.

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 Beat Lakers on Opening Night Behind Red-Hot Paul George, 116-109
Taylor C. Smith

Even for an exhibition, it felt like there was a lack of energy for both teams on a night that saw the Clippers lose their preseason opener to the Los Angeles Lakers, 87-81. The Lakers were without star duo LeBron James and Anthony Davis, along with veteran forward Markieff Morris, starting wing Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, and new signee Marc Gasol. The Clippers, for their part, were only without starting power forward Markieff Morris and rookie wing Jayden Scrubb, but essentially punted on the second half as they gave heavy minutes to prospects and camp invitees. It was a standard pre-season game, which means it was more about the young guys than the veterans.

There will surely be some noise about the Clippers losing a game in which Paul George and Kawhi Leonard both played while James and Davis did not, but the truth is that neither team approached the game with much intensity. The Clippers’ starters didn’t play in the second half, with youngsters Terance Mann and Mfiondu Kabengele leading the way in minutes and surrounded by a medley of third stringers and camp invitees. The Lakers also gave plenty of burn to their young and fringe players, but relied a bit more on established rotation pieces in the second half, as Kyle Kuzma finished with 38 minutes and former Clipper Montrezl Harrell played 31. Only 9 Lakers played tonight compared to 18 Clippers.

So, taking tonight’s results with more than a grain of salt, here are some quick takeaways from the first action of the Clippers’ 2020-21 season:

• Starting Lineup: The Clippers started Nicolas Batum in place of the absent Marcus Morris tonight, and had Serge Ibaka starting over Ivica Zubac at center. While Batum’s inclusion was clearly just filling in for Morris, Ty Lue said after the game that right now the team views Ibaka as the starting center going into the season. That’s a bit of a surprise, as Zubac has been a full-time starter for the Clippers since coming to the team at the 2019 deadline, but as long as the minutes split is relatively even it might make sense to have Zu bolster a second unit that will be weaker defensively and on the glass.

• Jim Jackson: The Clippers apparently replaced former color commentator Chauncey Billups, who moved from the booth to the bench for an assistant coach position this off-season, without telling anyone, as veteran college basketball broadcaster Jim Jackson was in the booth tonight alongside mainstay play-by-play man Brian Sieman. The two had some fun banter on a really unexciting night of basketball, so while it’s early days and we don’t know how many games Jackson will get this season in rotation with Corey Maggette, I’m liking the addition so far.

• Bad Reggie Jackson: In a rare candid moment last playoffs, Doc Rivers discussed the difference between “good” and “bad” Reggie, and tonight we certainly got the bad. He was out of control and rushed bad decisions all night long, and ended with 2 turnovers and 1-6 shooting in his 12 minutes. Part of that performance was going 0-3 from deep–spacing the floor with shooting well above his career numbers was one of his few redeeming qualities last season, so while it’s too early to tell it would be a bad sign if he regresses from beyond the arc.

• NiCardio Batum: Thus nicknamed by 213Hoops editor Robert Flom, Batum’s primary objective on the floor tonight seemed to be getting a good jog in–he ran up and down, but didn’t do much on either end of the floor once he got there besides turn around and job back the other way. Honestly, it’s a median outcome for him and perfectly acceptable for a minimum-salary guy: if he avoids egregious mistakes, makes simple reads offensively, and executes his coverages defensively, he’ll be just fine as a role player without needing to make a more significant offensive impact.

• Debuts: Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard were the two most anticipated Clippers to make their debuts tonight. Ibaka played just 8 minutes, but hit a couple of early threes and blocked a Montrezl Harrell shot, making a nice introduction for himself. Kennard got 17 minutes off of the bench, some in weird lineups that won’t resemble his actual rotation minutes, but showed some good flashes for a player who hasn’t been on the court in almost a calendar year (his last regular-season game was December 21st, 2019).

• Terance Mann: If anyone outside of the Clippers’ anticipated rotation looked like an NBA player tonight, it was Mann. While his stat line doesn’t jump off the page (6 points, 6 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 block in 22 minutes), his play was impressive. He was composed and patient on the ball offensively, often in some very questionable lineups, making smart moves to the rim and elevating to create clean looks for himself in the paint. Defensively, his size, length, and activity give him a lot of utility. We saw Mann thrive in some non-meaningful minutes last season, most notably in the team’s finale against Oklahoma City where he battled the Thunder’s third string, so the next step for him is to prove himself in actual rotation minutes. Last year, he was often a bit timid when the defense was locked in, and he needs to prove he can make shots as a floor-spacer when he’s playing in a lineup with stronger players and doesn’t have the ball in his hands.

• Mfiondu Kabengele and Daniel Oturu: The fight to determine which prospect will be the Clippers’ emergency center is too early to call after one pre-season game. Each player had some moments but showed warts as well. Kabengele had a couple of nice blocks and hit a corner three, but shot just 1-5 from beyond the arc and was routinely outmuscled under the rim, finishing with 6 fouls in 20 minutes. Oturu was 3-3 with 6 points and 2 rebounds in his 15 minutes, showing some nice initiative to run the floor and secure good post position. However, he also had 4 turnovers in that time, and was spared from having to do much defensively as Kabengele took on the Montrezl Harrell assignment and left Oturu to clash with the Lakers’ third-string bigs.
  
  Right now, if the question is which looks more capable of giving you 12 passable regular season minutes as a backup on nights when either Ibaka or Zubac are out, I’d say that Oturu looks to be ahead. But neither really looks like a rotation player, with Fi in particular feeling a bit lost on the court, seemingly always a step slow or slightly off-balance.

• The Camp Guys: It doesn’t really seem like any of these guys will make the team, since the Clippers have 14 guaranteed contracts and no space under the NBA’s hard cap to add a 15th, but Ky Bowman, Jordan Ford, Rayjon Tucker, and Malik Fitts all got some burn tonight. While I expect none to make the opening night roster, impressing the team in training camp could lead to opportunities down the line if the Clippers need to temporarily fill that 15th spot for emergency depth, end up having space to add someone to a rest-of-season deal, or have an opening on a two-way deal.
  
  Bowman was the most impressive of the group, adding 6 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists, and a block in 12 minutes. He was one of the steadier reserve players, avoiding a turnover and contributing positively defensively. Ford made 2 of his 3 shots to finish with 4 points in 5 minutes, but he’s less of a well-rounded player and his offensive abilities (which made him one of the nation’s leading scorers at Saint Mary’s last year) might not hold up against rotation defenses in the NBA. Rayjon Tucker is certainly extremely athletic and brings a positive defensive focus, but he was a train wreck offensively, forcing a number of ugly misses and poor decisions to finish 0-5 in his 10 minutes. It would have been nice to see those possessions utilized better. Lastly, Malik Fitts only got a few minutes to close out the night after Kabengele had fouled out–not enough to really evaluate him on. We’ll see if he gets his turn in a future pre-season game, especially if more veteran forwards ahead of him rotate rest.

• Next Up: The Clippers play the Lakers again on Sunday night before finishing their pre-season on Thursday the 17th against the Utah Jazz. Then, we’ll be right back at STAPLES against the Lakers again for the third time in as many weeks to open the regular season on December 22nd.

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 Lose Preseason Opener: Quick Takeaways
Lucas Hann

Join 213Hoops’ Clippers – Lakers game thread to discuss our first taste of the 2020-21 NBA season as the two LA teams face off in preseason action!

The game begins a little early, at 7:00 pm Pacific time, and should be available on Fox Sports Prime Ticket, Fox Sports San Diego, and the Lakers’ Spectrum SportsNet channel for those in Southern California. The rest of us will have to watch on NBA League Pass as there’s no national coverage for this game.

For the Lakers, superstar duo LeBron James and Anthony Davis will sit out tonight as the team gets the pre-season underway in the midst of an accelerated training camp following a short turnaround from their NBA Finals triumph in October. The Clippers have had their entire roster, save for 55th overall pick Jayden Scrubb, available in practice throughout this week. There has been no announcement yet that any main contributors will sit tonight.

However, the absence of James and Davis will rightfully rid this contest of any veneer of importance some may have considered it to have. As a pre-season opener between two contenders, who will meet on opening night but also hope to battle against each other in the Western Conference Finals six months from now, it’s nothing more than a glorified scrimmage, where neither team will exhibit their full gameplan or effort. Even if the Clippers’ starters all play, it will likely be a low-minutes exhibition where they walk through sets just to get some live-action reps in, with little regard for the scoreboard.

While it will be exciting to get a first look at several new Clipper contributors, particularly Serge Ibaka and Luke Kennard, we shouldn’t overstate our expectations–last year, Kawhi Leonard played in just 2 of the team’s 5 pre-season games, only appearing for 11 minutes in his debut and shooting 5-19 in a follow-up performance where he was clearly playing at half-speed and finding his legs.

The effort should pick up as the game goes on and both teams go away from players who have guaranteed roles for the upcoming season in favor of fringe players, prospects, and camp invites. For the Clippers, Reggie Jackson, Terance Mann, Nicolas Batum, and Patrick Patterson are all competing for minutes in the back end of their rotation, while deep-bench prospects like Amir Coffey, Mfiondu Kabengele, and Daniel Oturu will do their best to prove they belong in the above conversation as dependable depth. We’ll learn a lot more in pre-season from paying attention to things like Daniel Oturu’s pick-and-roll defense than Kawhi Leonard’s three-point shooting.

For more on what to watch for tonight, check out the latest episode of The Lob, The Jam, The Podcast, where Dr. Shap, 213Hoops editor Robert Flom, and myself discussed the Clippers’ pre-season .

Ultimately, in a meaningless contest that will be forgotten before it even ends, it’s just nice to have a chance to watch Clipper basketball again. Enjoy the game in our new comments section below, with a live thread.

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Clippers – Lakers Game Thread: Preseason Begins
Lucas Hann