The Clippers are playing their worst basketball of the entire season right when things are at their most critical for the postseason race, and now have to take on a strong and fearless Pistons team on the second night of a back-to-back.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Pistons: Cade Cunningham – Tim Hardaway Jr. – Simone Fontecchio – Ausar Thompson – Jalen Duren

Clippers: James Harden – Bogdan Bogdanovic – Kris Dunn – Nic Batum – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Pistons: Jaden Ivey Out (Leg), Tobias Harris Out (Personal), Isaiah Stewart Probable (Back)

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Rest), Norm Powell Out (Hamstring), Derrick Jones Jr. Doubtful (Groin), Ben Simmons Doubtful (Knee), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League), Patrick Baldwin Jr. Out (G-League), Seth Lundy Out (G-League)

Notes

Everything is Bad: The Clippers are just not playing right now, and the worst part is that there is a mass confluence of factors. First, it has to be noted that the Clippers are without leading scorer Norm Powell, their second-best perimeter defender in Derrick Jones Jr., and deadline addition Ben Simmons. Second, Kawhi Leonard, while he has been effective at times on offense, has not displayed anywhere near his usual impact on defense or on the glass. Third, Amir Coffey, who was so important to the Clippers’ success in the first half of the season, is struggling mightily on both ends. Fourth, Kris Dunn, the team’s best perimeter defender and an indispensable part of their defense, can’t hit threes consistently and clearly has some shaken confidence on offense. Fifth, James Harden looks gassed. Sixth, Bogdan Bogdanovic, the team’s biggest acquisition at the deadline, has been inconsistently on offense and consistently bad on defense. I could keep going! Very little is going right for the Clippers right now, and they need to turn things around very, very quickly or they might fall out of the postseason race entirely.

Clippers vs Pistons Preview: Things Are Bad Right Now
Robert Flom

The Clippers are in a challenging part of their schedule, as they are in the third game of a long road trip against good East teams, and now play on the second night of a back-to-back against a competitive Pistons squad.

Game Information

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

When: 4:00 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: James Harden – Amir Coffey – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Pistons: Cade Cunningham – Tim Hardaway Jr. – Tobias Harris – Ausar Thompson – Jalen Duren

Injuries

Clippers: Norm Powell Questionable (Knee), Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Foot), Ben Simmons Out (Rest), Jordan Miller Out (G-League) Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

Pistons: Jaden Ivey Out (Leg), Simone Fontecchio Questionable (Hand)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have dropped two games in a row out of the All Star Break, both in fairly ugly (albeit different) fashions. I’m still not too concerned. The Clippers did not have Norm Powell for either game nor Kawhi Leonard for last night’s loss to the Pacers – and the Clippers playing good teams on the road without two of their best players is a recipe for a loss. That’s not even counting the Clippers still integrating two major new pieces into the rotation in Bogdan Bogdanovic (who has struggled so far) and Ben Simmons (an incredibly unique player and tough fit). The losses are not good in the ultra-competitive Western Conference, especially with several teams both below and above them surging, but enough other teams in the West postseason picture are struggling in their own right that the Clippers’ situation is not yet dire.

The Antagonist

The Pistons, conversely, are riding high. Their six-game winning streak has pushed them to five games over .500 and has just about locked them into at the very least a play-in spot. The Pistons, at this point, probably have their sights set beyond just the play-in, however, as they are currently in 6^th place in the East and are within shouting distance of the Pacers and Bucks for 4^th and 5^th. The Pistons’ formula for success this season has been simple: Cade Cunningham has ascended to stardom, the Pistons got veteran three-point shooters (Malik Beasley, Tim Hardaway Jr., and Tobias Harris) to open the floor up, and young athletes on the wing (Ausar Thompson, Ron Holland II) provide defense and transition scoring. The Pistons are a very fun watch, and compete night-in, night-out under new coach JB Bickerstaff. They have far outperformed my expectations and have established themselves as a legit up-and-comer in the Eastern Conference. The Pistons are one of the best stories in the entire NBA.

Notes

Eye on Malik: Cade Cunningham is the Piston that gets most of the team’s shine, and if it’s not him than it is usually Ausar Thompson. However, perhaps the most frustrating Piston for opposing teams is Malik Beasley, who is a one-trick player but has a damn good trick. Namely, Beasley is having one of the best three-point shooting seasons we have ever seen, launching 9.4 per game (career high) and making them at a 42% rate (also a career high). Beasley has already made a preposterous 220 threes this season, and is draining them off the catch, off movement, and even off the dribble. For reference, Norm Powell has made 151 threes this season, James Harden 145. If Beasley gets going, it truly seems like he can’t miss, and even more than Cade, he’s the guy the Clippers need to try to shut down to keep the Pistons under control.

Clippers vs Pistons Preview: Tough Back-to-Back
Robert Flom

The LA Clippers used a second half rally to get a 112-106 win against the Detroit Pistons.

Summary

Usually the weekend matinee games mean a sleepwalking start for the LA Clippers. The pattern was reversed for Saturday’s win against the Detroit Pistons.

The Clippers started off the game on a 12-2 spurt and forced the Pistons to call the first timeout of the game. But following that start was when the sluggishness began.

The Pistons countered with a 12-2 run of their own to tie the game up and by the end of the first quarter the Clippers only held a 31-30 lead.

The second quarter was the sleepwalk the Clippers have been known to come out with during matinee games. The Pistons looked like the more focused, more disciplined team. They took advantage of the Clippers turnovers and poor defense allowing them to get clean looks from three-point range.

The Pistons led 58-49 at the half and it turned into the exact kind of game that Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue was worried about.

“Like I told you before the game, this team is playing fast, they’re playing well together, they execute and they like attacking the basket, attacking the rim especially with [Jaden] Ivey,” Lue said after the game. “They really put a lot of pressure on us.”

While the Clippers managed to close the gap in the third quarter, a buzzer-beating layup from Shake Milton to close the period took some of the sails out of their momentum.

In the fourth quarter though, Lue opted to go with a small lineup that featured Amir Coffey and it paid off. Coffey came off the bench to score 12 points, shot 2-5 from three-point range and 4-4 from the free-throw line.

“Just being able to spread the floor, Amir was huge for us,” Lue said. “Just being able to switch one through five, being able to rebound the basketball, and then just attack defensively. They double-teamed and now we have five guards on the floor, we got shots, were able to drive closeouts and so it helped us out a lot.”

Paul George was huge in the fourth quarter as well using a big thrown down in the lane that resulted in an and-one and helped spark the Clippers final rally. He also knocked down a pair of three-point shots that blew the game open. He finished with 33 points including 15 in the fourth.

Notes

-Norman Powell went down in the fourth quarter after taking an elbow from Jalen Duren causing a lot of blood flow. He was ultimately able to get up but had to be helped very gingerly to the locker room. Ty Lue said that Norm would be fine and just needed some stitches.

Clippers vs. Pistons Game Recap: Clips Win 112-106
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers have had a couple days to rest and recover, and will now face a revamped Pistons team.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 12:30 PM PT

How to Watch: Clippervision, Bally Sports SoCal

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

Projected Starting Lineups

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

Pistons: Cade Cunningham – Jaden Ivey – Ausar Thompson – Mike Muscala – Jalen Duren

Injury Report

Clippers: None

Pistons: Isaiah Stewart out (ankle).

The Big Picture

The LA Clippers will have had a few days of rest since their last game, a home loss to the New Orleans Pelicans. That can either be a good thing or a bad thing considering how the Clippers have often started in early Saturday games.

The loss against the Pelicans wasn’t all that surprising. The Clippers were jet-lagged and weary returning from their Grammy road trip. The road trip is what should be discussed. The Clippers went 6-1 and solidified any lingering questions as to whether or not this team should considered a championship contender.

This is a team that has put themselves in real position to grab the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference standings. The James Harden trade, while criticized by many at first, has turned out to be just what the Clippers needed to vault themselves into contention.

The Clippers also stayed relatively quiet at the trade deadline. Aside from acquiring the draft rights to Ismael Kamagate, they opted to head into the final stretch of the season with the roster as is. The front office has the utmost confidence in this group and based on what they’ve shown on the court, that confidence in justified. As always, the name of the game has been staying healthy.

The Antagonist

The Pistons come to town having made a major shakeup at the NBA trade deadline. They offloaded some of their vets like Monte Morris, Bojan Bogdanovic, and Alec Burks.

Ever since setting the record for the longest losing streak in NBA history, the Pistons have actually been playing better basketball. They’re 3-3 in their last six games which is a massive improvement for them. They’ve won the first two games of this West Coast road trip in Sacramento and Portland. They had a big win against the Oklahoma City Thunder a little over a week ago.

This has all the makings of a game where the Clippers starters come out sleepwalking. Thankfully for them, the bench, led by Russell Westbrook and Norman Powell, has often come in and woke the team up. This feels like a game where they’re going to have to do the same.

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Clippers vs. Pistons Game Preview
David Yapkowitz

The Clippers had another game where they didn’t play great for most of the contest, but had too much talent for the lowly Pistons to handle and got the victory in the end.

Summary

The Clippers started off the game about as poorly as possible. They only had one turnover early, but all of their players were misfiring on offense, and their defense was porous, allowing the Pistons to get whatever they wanted. The result was an early, shocking 20-6 Pistons lead before the bench started coming in at the 6 minute mark. The Clippers then went on an 11-6 run in the next 2:30, pulling back to within 10 points, with an and-one and three by Kawhi driving the attack. The Clippers continued to push, and cut the lead down to 33-27 after one with Kawhi’s scoring, Russell Westbrook’s passing, and much tighter defense.

The Clippers bench unit with Harden in for Kawhi played ok, but the Pistons continued to score too easily. Then, at the 9:46 mark, the Clippers went small by substituting PG for Theis. The Clippers were able to cut into the lead a little bit with this unit, getting it down to 48-44 with 5:21 to go, when Plumlee and Kawhi were re-inserted. Kawhi went right back to his dominating ways, this time getting at least a smidgeon of help from his co-stars, and by the time halftime rolled around, the Clippers had a 65-60 lead.

The third quarter continued Iargely the same fashion, with both teams scoring with ease, and the Clippers slowly growing their lead. Their advantage got up to nine points at times, but the Pistons fought to stay attached and the Clippers couldn’t pull away. At the 3:54 mark, a Cade midranger cut the Clippers’ lead all the way down to one, at 89-88. From there, the Clippers retook control, going on a 12-2 run capped by a buzzer-beating three by Norm to end the quarter and put the Clippers up 101-90 going into the fourth.

Early in the 4^th it seemed that the Clippers might run away with it early, as they had a lead as large as 18 at one point and seemed to be pushing for a blowout. However, the Pistons once again fought back, getting the lead back down to nine by the 7:53 mark. A minute and a half later, with the Clippers’ lead at 11, Kawhi and Mason came back, and a quick 5-0 spur put the Clippers up 16 with 5:57 to go. The Pistons battled, but Paul George went on a 7-0 run to grow the lead to 20 with under four minutes to go, and the rest of the game was garbage time.

Notes

Kawhi, Unstoppable: With Joel Embiid out for an extended period with injury, the MVP race is wide open, and honestly, Kawhi Leonard should be getting more buzz than he’s currently receiving. Yes, the Pistons are terrible, but Kawhi’s 33 points on 12-17 shooting, with 6-8 from three, is just becoming commonplace. He was a team-leading +18 in his 32 minutes, and could have easily gotten to 40 points if the game was slower. There just aren’t any basketball players in the world playing better than Kawhi Leonard right now. He’s an All-Star, will make All-NBA, and at this rate should absolutely be top-5 on the MVP ballot, at least. What a player.

Russ Reversing the Clock: Russell Westbrook has been great in his role as an energy guard off the bench this year. He’s provided defense, rebounding, and playmaking for the Clippers’ bench, and has been a swing factor in multiple games. However, his scoring has been largely the same as it has been in recent years – namely, inefficient. His 52.3% True Shooting is just really bad in today’s NBA, and drags down what is otherwise a highly useful player. Tonight, however, the old midrange jumper, the one that used to be so automatic for Russ, was falling. He drained two of his three shots from deep. He even made several tough finishes around the rim. At the end of the day, Russ had 23 points on 13 shots, and chipped in 9 assists to two turnovers. Again, the Pistons are terrible, but this was still a terrific Russ game, and I’m happy he hit the incredible 25,000 point career mark in a huge game for him and a Clippers’ win.

PG Looks Healthy: After a dismal 1-5 start, Paul George went 7-11 the rest of the way, and more or less single-handedly ended the game in the mid-4^th quarter. He finished with 18 points, 4 rebounds, 7 assists, and 3 steals, and while he maybe looked a little less bursty than usual, he more or less resembled a healthy Paul George. Hopefully he can stay healthy the last couple weeks until the All-Star break, where he will get some much deserved rest. Another guy who could use rest? James Harden, who clearly looks tired and slower than he did just a few weeks ago.

Clippers Shut Off Pistons’ Engine in 136-125 Win
Robert Flom

The Clippers face another of the worst teams in the entire NBA in the middle of their long road trip as they travel to Detroit to take on the Pistons.

Game Information

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

When: 4:00 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 – Amir Coffey – Terance Mann – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac

Pistons: Cade Cunningham – Jaden Ivey – Kevin Knox – Bojan Bogdanovic – Jalen Duren

Injuries

Clippers: Paul George Questionable (Groin), Ivica Zubac Out (Calf), Moussa Diabate Out (Hand)

Pistons: Cade Cunningham Probable (Knee), Isaiah Stewart Out (Ankle), Mike Muscala Out (Concussion)

The Big Picture

The Clippers continue to float near the top of the Western Conference standings, but are still a game back of the Thunder and two games back of the Timberwolves. Still, they’re in a good spot with the trade deadline approaching. It seems very unlikely they’ll make a major move, whereas other teams will probably reshuffle their rosters more, and thus be weaker in the very short-term. If the Clippers can get back to full health in the coming weeks, they should be locked and loaded for a push to move atop the West standings.

The Antagonist

The Pistons are 6-41. That’s historically bad. For a while, on their record-breaking, two-month, 28-game losing streak, it seemed like they might not get to even six wins this year. They’ll probably hit double digits, but that’s certainly not guaranteed. They have the 26^th ranked offense, 29^th ranked defense, and are 29^th in overall Net Rating ahead of just the Hornets. The Pistons do have talent, with Cunningham, Ivey, Duren, and Ausar Thompson. But that talent is very young, doesn’t fit together great, and is surrounded by very little. Bojan Bogdanovic can still shoot. Alec Burks and Danilo Gallinari can get hot. But the Pistons have no plus defenders outside of Thompson and their creation is limited. They are a very, very terrible team.

Notes

Slowing Jalen Duren: Cade is the Pistons’ hope for a franchise savior, but Jalen Duren is the player I’m most worried about for the Clippers in this one. Duren is huge and athletic, and at this point could probably out jump Mason Plumlee and Daniel Theis combined. The Clippers’ rebounding has been hit or miss, and Duren is absolutely a guy who could get six or seven offensive rebounds to give the Pistons hope. The Clippers need to do their best to keep him off the offensive glass and limit the Pistons to a single shot per possession. If they do so, they should win.

Don’t Settle: Remember how bad the Wizards’ defense was two nights ago? Well, the Pistons’ defense is every bit as bad as that. The Clippers can’t settle for jumpers: they need to attack, blow by the Pistons’ poor defenders, and get fouled or finish at the rim (Duren, for all his talent, still doesn’t know the nuances of NBA defense). The Pistons defense is so bad that the Clippers can have an off shooting night and still win – they just need to play hard defense and be aggressive on offense.

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Clippers vs Pistons Preview: Another Easy One
Robert Flom

The Clippers beat the Pistons 142-131 in overtime on the road to secure a win in one of the worst and most embarrassing basketball games I’ve ever seen.

Summary

The Clippers startd off hot, buoyed by a great few minutes from Reggie Jackson, who scored 10 of their first 12 points in a variety of ways. Unfortunately, in a first-half theme, the Clippers were unable to get any separation because the Pistons kept making threes. The game seesawed back and forth for much of the first, with the substitutions not arriving until late at the 3:52 mark. Nico and Zu exited, and the Clippers went small with first Morris and then PG/Mann as their “big men”. Unsurprisingly, the defense and rebounding of this unit was awful, and the Pistons scored a bunch down the stretch to go up 36-31.

Zubac came in for George to reset the defense, which more or less worked, and the Clippers quickly tied the game back up. John Wall had a nice shift with some great passes, though the Clippers missed on a number of looks that could have given them a real lead against a horrid Pistons bench unit. The Clippers’ offense continued to scorch late in the period with a number of threes, and as the Pistons cooled off just a tad, the Clippers opened up a five-point lead at halftime.

The Clippers came out pushing, consistently attacking the basket to draw fouls and kick for open threes. Entering the bonus at the 8:53 mark, a parade of free throws and threes saw the Clippers grow their lead to as large as 15. All looked well. Then the wheels came off. A series of Clippers’ turnovers got the Pistons into transition and easy buckets. When the Clippers did get up shots, they missed them. The Pistons cut into the lead, and then, somehow, took the lead during a four-minute Clippers’ scoring drought. The run was 19-3, the play embarrassing on both ends. The defense stiffened a bit when Zu was re-inserted, but not enough, and the Pistons led 101-96 after three.

The Clippers started the quarter with four small guards and Zubac, and, predictably, weren’t playing great defense. Fortunately, the Pistons were no better, and the Clippers were able to keep the lead close in the early minutes. However, as the starters came back, the game seemingly slipped away, with awful turnovers and lazy offense combining terribly wit bad defense to get the Pistons up by 14. At that point, with 3:34 to go, Ty Lue seemingly waved the white flag, putting in Moses Brown, Amir Coffey, Terance Mann, and Norm Powell alongside Batum (and then Luke for Norm a minute later). The Pistons seemingly thought the game was won and stopped playing, while the Clippers, with actual defenders and size in, were able to get stops and scores in transition.

With 26 seconds left, the Clippers had the ball trailing by two. Paul George was re-inserted, and quickly drew a foul. He missed the first and made the second. Clippers down one with 21 to go. Killian Hayes was fouled, and also made one of two free throws. The Clippers called their final timeout. On a completely broken play, Terance made a midrange jumper to tie it up with five seconds left. Bogdanovic missed a tough three, and the game went to OT.

The Clippers continued playing an actual lineup with size, defenders, shooting, and ballhandling with a Luke-Mann-PG-Nico-Zu unit. And, fittingly, that lineup dominated the Pistons, allowing only three points o a tough Burks three, and consistently getting easy looks of their own. The Clips outscored the Pistons 14-3 in OT, cruising to a 142-131 win.

Notes

No More Four-Guard Units: John Wall, Reggie Jackson, Luke Kennard, Norm Powell, and Terance Mann are all good players in their own way. However, only Mann is a truly good perimeter defender with size, and even he’s best at the 2 or maybe 3, not the 4. When the Clippers play three of these guys together, much less four, they’re asking for defensive breakdowns, no rim protection, and poor rebounding. It’s even worse when those units are paired with a small-ball five like Marcus Morris or Nic Batum. The Clippers need to do something different, and that probably involves one of the smaller guards exiting the rotation for a true center, Robert Covington (seems unlikely) or even Amir Coffey. These units are too small and defensively impotent – and aren’t even dynamic enough offensively to make them worth it. I think Wall is the guy whose minutes need to be reduced, but not sure if that will go over.

More Nico, More Mann: I’m a broken record at this point. Nic Batum has been awesome this season and needs to play a lot. At the same time, I don’t want him to get worn down in the regular season, so a guy like RoCo who a lot of the stuff Nico can seems like a good sub to keep Nic’s minutes down. Why he doesn’t play is a mystery. Terance brings energy, activity, defense, and rebounding, and is therefore a unique skillset that also needs to play more. While Marcus Morris has played well this season and is a steady rotation presence, it seems fairly clear he should not be closing most games unless he’s hot.

Embarrassing: The Clippers pulled out this win in miraculous fashion, and we will all probably forget about this game in a few months. If they hadn’t, it would have been the worst loss of the season, an inexcusable performance against an awful Pistons team that didn’t even play well outside of some semi-hot shooting. Some of that is on the Clippers’ coaching staff for their poor rotations, but that’s not to let the players off the hook for their lazy passing and poor effort on defense and on the glass. This is an unserious basketball team right now (for the most part) with unserious rotations, and that will need to change at some point.

Clippers vs. Pistons Recap: The Worst Win of the Year
Robert Flom

The Clippers have had a few days off, and now get a bad Pistons team on the road before the end of December schedule gets very tough.

Game Information

Where: Little Caesars Arena, Detroit, Michigan

When: 4:00 PM PT

How to Watch: Bally Sports SoCal

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Paul George – Terance Mann – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac

Pistons: Killian Hayes – Jaden Ivey – Saddiq Bey – Bojan Bogdanovic – Isaiah Stewart

Injuries

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Load Management), Brandon Boston Jr Out (G-League), Moussa Diabate Out (G-League), Jason Preston Out (G-League)

Pistons: Cade Cunningham Out (Leg), Isaiah Livers Out (Shoulder)

The Big Picture

The Clippers have had a couple days to stew after their loss to the Sixers, but got some good Christmas news yesterday, as the Lakers, Grizzlies, and Suns all lost, pushing the Clips into a tie for 4^th place in the Western Conference. Their defense has remained ferocious as a top-five unit nearly all season, which is fantastic both for the regular season and the postseason. The offense, while it has improved from league-worst, is still just 28^th in the NBA, which is, quite obviously, not good. The offense should continue to improve as Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, and Norm Powell play more, but we are closing in on the halfway mark of the season, and having a bottom-three offense is a bad sign. Still, the Pistons’ awful defense is a good game for the Clippers to boost their stats a bit.

The Antagonist

The Pistons have a good argument for worst team in the NBA. They have the worst record (8-27) in the league by far, the second-worst defense, fifth-worst offense, and second-worst overall net rating. Prized sophomore Cade Cunningham has played just 12 games, and is done for the season with a leg injury. Lottery rookies Jaden Ivey and Jalen Duren have showed a lot of promise, though Duren doesn’t play nearly as much as Ivey. Bojan Bogdanovic has been awesome – but the question is how much longer he’ll be on the Pistons, as playoff teams are likely to circle as the trade deadline approaches. Third-year guy Saddiq Bey has disappointed a bit, remaining poor defensively and with awful efficiency, while third-year guard Killian Hayes, given a new lease on rotation life with Cade out, has taken a step forward as a scorer and playmaker (though his efficiency is also abominable). In short, the Pistons have some talent, but it’s a very, very young team, and young teams are not usually very good at NBA basketball. These Pistons are no different.

Notes

No Kawhi, Yes Wall: John Wall is back after a game off, while Kawhi Leonard is out for tonight on the first of a back-to-back. Presumably, Kawhi will play tomorrow and Wall will be off against the Raptors. The Clippers clearly (and rightly) hope that they can beat the Pistons without Kawhi’s services, but will need him against the wing-heavy Raptors. I also like getting Wall without Kawhi, as they are two players who do have opposing play styles. It’s been a brutal December for Wall, who isn’t shooting well from anywhere on the court, so getting him more minutes and touches with no Kawhi against an awful Pistons’ defense is a nice strategy to get him going again.

Nico Scorching: The Clippers’ offense has been buoyed by some renewed offense from superstar role player Nic Batum. After averaging 4.5 points per game over the first two months of the season, Nico is up to 10.4 points in December (on somewhat but not hugely increased minutes). Batum is shooting 52% from the field in December, and 50% on threes, which checks out as 62 of Batum’s 75 shots in the month are from three. Every single three of his looks like it’s going in, and that’s without counting the little connective stuff he does on offense. Oh, and he’s probably the best (or most versatile, anyway) defender on the team, showcased by guarding both James Harden and Joel Embiid for extended stretches. The Clippers would be lost without Nico: while Norm Powell is the Clippers’ third scorer, and Ivica Zubac has been great, the Clippers’ third most important player might well be the 34-year-old veteran from France.

Clippers vs. Pistons Preview: On the Road in Motown
Robert Flom

In Kawhi Leonard’s first bit of action in weeks, the Clippers were able to pull away late from the Detroit Pistons for a 96-91 win. Check out our recap below.

RECAP

Many hours before Thursday night’s 7:30 p.m. tipoff, the Clippers, and their fans, received the encouraging news that Kawhi Leonard had been upgraded from OUT to QUESTIONABLE. Shortly after, there was another status change — a promotion from QUESTIONABLE to AVAILABLE, marking Leonard’s first appearance in 25 days. And with an unusual amount of excitement for a weekday game against a bottom-tier NBA team, it took about five minutes of gameplay for it to all fall by the wayside.

The Clippers fell victim to another atrocious first quarter, totaling just 15 points for a consecutive game and failing to reach 20 for the fifth time this season. The stagnant halfcourt offense and general casualness bled into quarter No. 2, which let Detroit’s league-worst defense entirely off the hook. Fortunately for L.A., the young Pistons’ offense was essentially as poor as its own, but more due to youth and untapped talent than a lack of effort or execution. Both teams traded misses until Detroit closed the half on a 20-12 run to lead by eight at the break.

It seemed to be only a matter of time before the Clippers improved on their 34.9% first-half shooting and would begin to out-talent the Pistons. But each time a brief sign of life appeared via a Reggie Jackson or Marcus Morris Sr. string of baskets, the Pistons countered with timely jump shots from Bojan Bogdanovic and drives to the rim from Jaden Ivey. Although for as big of a role as Detroit’s offense played in stemming the tide, the Clippers gifted the Pistons opportunities with countless lackadaisical mistakes. 

Yet, it never felt like the Clippers were in jeopardy of losing this game. In grind-it-out fashion, they scratched and clawed their way into a lead by the time the fourth quarter came around and eventually pulled ahead for good as a combination of Marcus Morris Sr., Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Reggie Jackson helped seal the deal.

The Clippers move to 9-7 with the win and will now prepare for a home game against the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday.

THE GOOD

Reggie Jackson

The Reggie Jackson experience this season continues to be everything that makes him a unique player. But on a night when not much went right for the Clippers, Reggie was there to almost single-handedly save the day. In addition to the full arsenal being on display — catch-and-shoot threes, the floater and a variety of crafty routes to the rim from off the dribble — Reggie’s shot selection and ableness to limit turnovers was the more important development on Thursday night. He finished with 23 points, three assists and three 3-pointers on 7/12 shooting.

Kawhi’s Return

There isn’t much to say about Kawhi’s return other than it was good to see him on the court. Clearly rusty, his shot was off, his timing was a bit awkward on defense and he looked to be finding his fit in the halfcourt. The good, and more important bit of information, is that Kawhi seemed to be moving around just fine. He was able to show some burst and good change of direction in getting to the rim toward the end of the game for his final bucket, and he upped his defensive activity both on the ball and on the defensive glass down the stretch.

Overall, you come away with more positives than negatives, given the situation.

THE BAD

Rotations

Reggie was fantastic in this one and was clearly the Clippers’ best source of offense from the start, which made Ty Lue’s decision to ride John Wall for as long as he did very frustrating. Equally as frustrating was Robert Covington inexplicably catching another DNP-CD. 

While the Clippers have been able to figure out ways to win this season, I just come away from most games unimpressed and concerned with their process. Things feel like they can be much cleaner.

The Offense

As stated earlier, the Pistons entered tonight’s game with the league’s worst defensive rating. But instead of being the latest team to pick apart Detroit, the Clippers shot 40.7 percent from the field, turned the ball over 18 times and registered just 96 points on the night. With Kawhi’s reintegration back into the lineup, some of the team’s wonkiness was to be expected. Still, many of the same issues that have plagued them this season remained, including a lack of creativity in the halfcourt, an inability to take care of the ball, and a failure to get up shots.

The Clippers desperately need to be better on the offensive end, and perhaps they will round into form if Kawhi and others can remain healthy.

Clippers vs. Pistons Recap: L.A. Pulls Away Late In Kawhi’s Return
Cole Huff

The LA Clippers will host the Detroit Pistons on Thursday evening for the first of a three-game homestand. Continue reading for our Clippers-Pistons preview.

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California

When: 7:30 p.m. PT

How to Tune in: Bally Sports SoCal, ClipperVision, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

LA Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Terance Mann – Paul George – Marcus Morris – Ivica Zubac

Detroit Pistons: Killian Hayes, Jaden Ivey, Bojan Bogdanovic, Marvin Bagley III, Jalen Duren

Injury Report

Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Luke Kennard Doubtful (Calf), Paul George Questionable (Ankle)

Pistons: Cade Cunningham Out (Shin), Isaiah Stewart Out (Toe)

The Big Picture

If the Clippers want to get back on track and further remove themselves from a mostly disappointing start to the season, it’s games like these that they desperately need to win. And for the better part of the past couple of seasons, these seem like the kinds of games the Clippers have refused to take care of. To their credit, these inferior opponents haven’t really been an issue this season — five of L.A.’s eight wins to this point have come against the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. So, a date with a bottom-tier Detroit Pistons squad is one that many should consider right up the Clippers’ alley.

But simply beating the Pistons wouldn’t feel fulfilling enough. It would be beneficial for the Clippers actually to look good while doing so, rather than having another nail-biting win at home over a bad team as they did in weeks past against the Lakers and Rockets.

The Antagonist

The Detroit Pistons are not a good basketball team at the moment. And with Cade Cunningham out due to a shin injury, the Pistons surely have no business sticking around in this one with a team as talented as the Clippers. However, they do have areas of strength that the Clippers must focus on limiting. Detroit leads the NBA in free-throw attempts (29.2) and free-throw makes per game (22.7). The Clippers are the only team in the NBA allowing fewer than 15.0 free-throw makes, which is a number they failed to stay under last game against Dallas. The more easy points they allow begin to add up when you consider how difficult it is for the Clips to muster up points.

Still, there are an overwhelming amount of weaknesses on Detroit’s end — ones unsurprising for a team with a 3-12 record. Chief among the Pistons’ issues is their inability to put the ball in the basket. Their 42.9 field goal percentage ranks dead last in the league, which goes hand in hand with their second-worst 21.1 assists per game. If the L.A.’s defense on Thursday night is on par with what it’s been all season, the Clips should feel even better about its chances of winning this game.

Clippers vs. Pistons Game Notes

• Rotations: It’s no secret that the Clippers’ rotations have been weird (bad). Repeatedly either not playing Robert Covington or hardly using him has been tough to figure out, as has the allocation of minutes going to Terance Mann. And with Kawhi Leonard still out and Luke Kennard battling a calf injury, there should be enough minutes available for all of L.A.’s wings and forwards to make an impact. The keyword there is should because there’s no telling how Ty Lue will manage this one. 

• Detroit’s Defense vs. L.A.’s offense: For as bad as Detroit’s offense might be without Cade Cunningham, their defense is worse — statistically, they are the lowest-rated defense in the NBA. But can the Clippers’ league-worst offense capitalize in perhaps its most advantageous spot of this young season? If so, it will likely fall on the hands of Paul George, who has cooled off tremendously since carrying the team for a little more than a week.

• Keeping tabs on Nerlens Noel: The Clippers were linked to potential trades involving Nerlens Noel and the New York Knicks during this past offseason before Detroit acquired the veteran big. Noel hasn’t truly found a spot in the Pistons’ lineup but could earn some opportunities on Thursday with Isiah Stewart injured and going to miss some time. As the Clips are seemingly still in pursuit of a backup big, it’ll be worth paying attention to how Noel looks and what he could potentially bring to the Clippers should they re-engage with his camp at some point in the season.

Clippers vs. Pistons Game Preview: A Bounce-Back Opportunity.
Cole Huff