This Clippers have established a new high-water mark: A four game win streak. They did so by beating the Spurs for the second time in a week’s time and the fourth time this season. Check out how the Clippers disposed of the Spurs below:

Summary

The Clippers took control of this game from the jump, earning a 10 point lead six minutes into the game, and the game was never closer than that after the first quarter. LA went on to win the first half by 21 points, 78-57. They were led by Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, who had 22 and 18 points respectively in the first half. Like Tuesday’s game against the Lakers, they started the game shooting over 64% from the floor.

The Clippers narrowly won the third quarter, but shut the door early in the fourth. Brandon Boston, Jr., Amir Coffey, Moussa Diabate, and Jason Preston were able to handle the final seven minutes. Boston had two nice dunks and Preston pushed the lead to its height with 30 seconds left when he hit a three pointer to put the Clippers up 138-100, the eventual final score. The whole Spurs roster had a negative plus-minus; Keldon Johnson, though, stood out as a capable player. He had 19 points on 7/13 shooting. Isaiah Roby added 14 points and seven rebounds off the bench.

Notes

The 213 Connection: Kawhi and PG combined for 62 points on 69% shooting. They only had 9 free throws total, but they each had seven assists and neither had a turnover. Paul George looked healthy, too, throwing down a huge windmill in transition. There are teams out there that have a single player who might be better than Kawhi and/or George, but they are starting to reassert themselves as one of the best duos in the league (when healthy, of course). Although this was just the Spurs, it feels like momentum is building for both of the Clippers’ stars. The next step will be having this level of performance against other playoff-level teams. This six-game road trip will provide quite a few opportunities.

Health Update: Luke Kennard returned to the court tonight, starting in Marcus Morris, Sr.’s place and logging 17 minutes. He only took three shots (of which he made two) and was generally on the fringes of the game. Morris was out due to his rib contusion, but he was questionable for tonight’s game, so he should be back soon. In fact, Morris—along with Preston and Wall—is traveling on the road trip. The only other roster consideration for the road trip is Moses Brown, who is nearing his 50-game cap. If he comes on the road trip, his time on the main roster will be over very soon. It will be interesting to see if the Clippers leave him in Ontario in order to extend his availability deeper into the season.

Checking In on Zubac, again: After the recent Mavs game, I expressed some concern for Ivica Zubac’s trend over the season. Tonight, he looked much more aggressive and, even better, the Clippers were actively looking for him in pick-and-roll actions. He only had 11 points and 5 rebounds on 4/5 shooting, but he drew three fouls and had two blocks on the defensive end. If teams are going to continue to blitz Paul George and Kawhi Leonard, having Zubac be a release valve in the paint helps a lot. He looked up to the task tonight, even though the numbers do not jump off the page.

Covington Looks Like Covington Again: 213Hoops readers might remember that I have not been a Covington campaigner this season. I have been skeptical that he can fix the issues that the Clippers have struggled with so far this year. But he continues to do well in these recent opportunities, looking like the guy we loved last season. Tonight, he had 13 points, seven rebounds, three blocks, two steals, and an assist in 21 minutes on 5/7 shooting from the field and 3/5 from three. He is playing within himself, and he’s saving us from the infamous three-guard lineups.

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

Clippers sweep Spurs, 138-100: Four in a row
Kenneth Armstrong

Tonight, the Clippers will take on the Spurs for the second time this month and for the fourth, and final, time this season. LA has a chance to sweep the season series, win their fourth straight game, and take over the fourth seed in the Western Conference. Check out our preview below:

Game Information

Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, CA

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: ClipperVision, Bally Sports SoCal

How to Listen: AM 570 KLAC

Projected Starting Lineups

Clippers: Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Nicolas Batum – Ivica Zubac

Spurs: Tre Jones – Keldon Johnson – Keita Bates-Diop – Jeremy Sochan – Jakob Poeltl

Injuries

Clippers:
QUESTIONABLE – Marcus Morris, Sr. (ribs); Luke Kennard (calf)

OUT – John Wall (abdominal); Brandon Boston Jr (G-League); Moses Brown (G-League); Jason Preston Out (G-League)

Spurs: OUT – Romeo Langford (hip)

The Big Picture

For what feels like for the first time despite how often the revere has been true, the Clippers are playing a team the night after the Lakers did. The Spurs lost last night in LA to the Lakers, so the Clippers will have the rest advantage tonight. They are also familiar with this Spurs team, having played them three times already, including just last week.

The Clippers are also playing much better since last Friday: They are currently on a three-game win streak, with two road wins by double-digits. They are motivated, the rotations seems more coherent, and they’ll be back home for the first time since they played the Sixers on January 18th.

Moreover, although Morris and Kennard are questionable, the Clippers are also getting healthier (knock on wood), as Paul George and Kawhi Leonard are not only available but are looking more athletic and fit as the games go on.

In sum, the Clippers have the talent, rest, health, and momentum advantages. If they bring the focus and energy that we have seen over the last few games, they should be ready to claim their fourth straight win.

The Antagonist

On the other hand, the Clippers are not exactly world-beaters. They have only beaten three playoff teams this month, and barely pulled away from the Spurs in the fourth quarter last week. The Clippers are not yet above the suspicion that they could drop a game to a bad team.

The Clippers also struggled a little bit at times on Tuesday after Morris went out. Sure, Morris only had 5 points on 2/4 shooting in 10 minutes. But the Clippers’ spacing can get a little tight when Batum or Covington are in at the “power forward” position along side Leonard and George. Morris is a more respected shooter than those two, so driving lanes are more open when he is on the floor.

Therefore, down a scorer, if one of Leonard, George, or Powell have an off shooting night, the Clippers could easily lose this game. After all, the Clippers only beat the Spurs by five points despite Norman Powell having 26 points on 9/11 shooting.

Notes

Reggie Jackson’s Joy: Over the last three games, Reggie is averaging 14 points and 2.7 assists (2.3 turnovers) in 21.1 minutes on 48.4/ 46.7/100 shooting splits. Even better, as Paul George put it, he appears to have some of his joy back. Reggie’s time might go away again since Luke Kennard is back in the rotation, but the Clippers are already much better off going forward because of his recent run. First, it gives a contrast to what we saw from John Wall before his injury. And, second, the ~vibes~ are much better when Reggie is in a positive mood.

Rooting Interest(s) for Jan. 26-27: Tonight, there are not any, really! The Suns and the Mavericks play each other tonight. If they both could lose, that would be great. But either one getting a loss helps the Clippers in the long run. On Friday, the Clippers would benefit from: Cavs over Thunder; Raptors over Warriors; and, Grizzlies over Timberwolves.

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

Clippers vs. Spurs Preview: Looking to Sweep
Kenneth Armstrong

The L.A. Clippers (9-5) capped off the homestand 5-1 with a 106-92 win over the San Antonio Spurs (4-10) Tuesday night. Six first-half turnovers aside, Paul George coasted to 34 points (10-24 FG, 12-13 FT), nine rebounds, four assists and two steals. A definition of a “shooters shoot” game, Reggie Jackson kept at it all-game long to add 21 points (8-22 FG, 5-17 3PT), six rebounds, four assists and two blocks. Dejounte Murray was one of the lone bright spots for San Antonio, putting up 26 points (12-21 FG, 1-2 3PT), 12 rebounds, nine assists and three steals in a game-high 38 minutes. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Spurs game recap.

Summary

After coughing up the ball 10 times to open up the game against Chicago, the Clippers didn’t do a great job in that department with six turnovers to start tonight. Fortunately, that didn’t amount to much just yet here for the mid-range loving Spurs. It was a throwback quarter as both sides took a ton of long twos while combining for just two made threes in the 12 minutes. Aside from the poor outside shooting, both teams shot it relatively efficiently inside the arc. Paul George quickly established himself as the best player on the court, Reggie Jackson could not buy a triple despite hunting for it, and Luke Kennard and Amir Coffey were the first subs off the bench. The main difference was the Clipper bigs easily outplaying Drew Eubanks and Thaddeus Young, the latter of which just looked absolutely unplayable. Through one, the Clippers held a 25-20 lead.

Despite taking their largest lead of the game thus far at 12, the Clippers were soon rebuked by the Spurs 33-32 in the second as the careless turnovers and subsequent San Antonio fast-break points began to pile up. Despite the game inching near blowout territory off of weak interior defense by San Antonio, there were simply too many transition buckets conceded that gave the Spurs’ youngsters life. The three-point shooting didn’t get much better for either side, but George and Dejounte Murray still managed to put on a show in the frame with 15 points apiece for their respective squads. At the break, the Clippers led just 57-53.

With the Clippers still sleepwalking, the Spurs opened up the third on an 8-2 run to take a brief two-point lead, before taking a three-point advantage at the 6:46 mark. With the game in the balance, both teams mostly traded misses and turnovers before a Coffey three and a Boston middy gave the Clippers a breath of separation once again. From there, with Murray on the bench, the Spurs just could not make a shot as the Clippers’ energy began to pick back up again thanks to Reggie — headband freshly re-tightened —regaining his flow. In the last 1:37, Jackson had a stepback corner 3 in front of the Spurs bench, a block and coast-to-coast lob to Isaiah Hartenstein, a free-throw line floater, and a straight-line layup to have LAC feeling good up 83-71 heading to the fourth.

Clippers fans couldn’t help but feel like the final frame would be good when Brandon Boston Jr. opened it up nailing a three. Ultimately, however, LAC didn’t really have to do anything special to bring this one home. The Spurs got it down to as much as nine but were immediately answered right back by a pair of Jackson threes that decided to go in. As such, with there not being any real threat of the Spurs miraculously splashing in threes in the final minute, George, Jackson and Zubac all got an early curtain call as the Clippers got back in the win column.

Clippers vs. Spurs Game Notes

• Batum Break: Nicolas Batum was limited to 14 minutes tonight, playing just the opening shifts of the first and third quarters. Not much of a heads up was given pre-game about the whole ordeal, but according to Brian Sieman in the early moments of the second half, Batum was reportedly on a minutes restriction tonight to get over some everyday “bumps and bruises” that come with the NBA season. This was later confirmed by Tyronn Lue postgame.

• Bench Mob: While Luke Kennard and Isaiah Hartenstein were great once again off the bench, some real praise has to go to Amir Coffey and Brandon Boston Jr. tonight. The two wings not only stepped in for a rotation in major need of some depth, but flourished as well. Coffey’s stat line might not jump off the page, but he made consistently made the right plays on both ends, and kept the defense honest with his ability to score from all three levels. Boston Jr. was once again a ton of fun to watch again, playing with a level of confidence and swagger that you just can’t help but get excited about.
• PG13 FTA: Paul George somehow took six more free throws than the entire Spurs lineup tonight. Other than the aforementioned turnovers, and 2-for-11 shooting from the field in the second half, there was not much more you could ask for tonight from PG. It was also really good, however, to see the rest of the guys come alive to bring this one home after the halftime break. Especially early on, it was looking like this one was going back to the early days of the season, in which a classic PG-carry performance would have been required.
• Mistakes Were Made: Gregg Popovich mentioned before tip-off that basketball is a “game of mistakes,” and that if there were no mistakes, “it’d be boring.” Well, with 23 fast break points surrendered off of 22 head-scratching turnovers, the Clippers certainly didn’t play like a team that would end up winning by double-digits. Fortunately, LAC were able to cut down San Antonio’s points in transition to just five in the second half, but this is something that simply won’t fly next game.
• Up Next: On the front end of a back-to-back, the Clippers will visit the Memphis Grizzlies at FedExForum on Thursday, Nov. 18, at 5 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. Spurs Recap: LAC Scraps Out Win, 106-92
Ralston Dacanay

The L.A. Clippers (8-5) aim to get back on track at home against the young San Antonio Spurs (4-9) Tuesday night. Read on for our full Clippers vs. Spurs game preview.

Clippers vs. Spurs Game Information

Where: Staples Center, Los Angeles, California
When: 7:30 p.m. PT
How to Tune in: Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570 KLAC, KWKW

Projected Starting Lineups:
L.A. Clippers: Reggie Jackson – Eric Bledsoe – Paul George – Nicolas Batum – Ivica Zubac
San Antonio: Dejounte Murray – Derrick White – Keldon Johnson – Doug McDermott – Drew Eubanks

Injury Report:
L.A. Clippers: Serge Ibaka – OUT (G League – On Assignment), Keon Johnson – OUT (Left Ankle Sprain), Kawhi Leonard – OUT (Right Knee; ACL – Injury Recovery), Terance Mann – OUT (Left Ankle Sprain), Marcus Morris Sr. – OUT (Left Knee – Injury Maintenance), Jason Preston – OUT (Right Foot – Injury Recovery), Justise Winslow – OUT (Personal)
San Antonio Spurs: Devonte Cacok – OUT (G League – Two-Way), Zach Collins – OUT (Left Ankle Stress Fracture), Jock Landale – OUT (Health and Safety Protocols), Jakob Poeltl – OUT (Return to Competition Reconditioning), Joshua Primo – OUT (G League – On Assignment), Joe Wieskamp – OUT (G League – Two-Way)

The Big Picture

After having their seven-game winning streak snapped at the hands of the surging Chicago Bulls on Sunday, the Clippers have a great opportunity to get back to their winning ways tonight against DeMar DeRozan’s former squad. Over the course of that run, the Clippers restored order to their season playing some great basketball on both ends. While Paul George has looked amazing from the jump, the rest of the team broke out of their offensive slumps, got better at staying afloat when he’s off the floor, and overall gradually became less dependent on his individual scoring to stay in games. On the other end, the Clippers currently have the second-best rated defense in the league, something that’s been especially stifling after halftime breaks in which Tyronn Lue and his staff are able to make their lauded in-game adjustments as they see fit. From Reggie Jackson and Eric Bledsoe coming to life, to Luke Kennard, Terance Mann and Isaiah Hartenstein holding it down off of the bench, the Clippers have shown that their well-coached, meticulous identity from last year is something that a lot of teams will have trouble dealing with on most nights.

On the flip side of that, however, some of the main weaknesses of the Clippers’ identity this season also reared their heads quite a bit in their loss to Chicago. Of course, with two of their Top-3 scorers from last season in Kawhi Leonard and Marcus Morris Sr. remaining out, there are simply going to be nights where LAC just doesn’t have the firepower to carry games home. Perhaps something that was a bit more unforeseen, however, is the Clippers’ struggles to be the aggressors when the ball gets tipped up. The opening-frame sleepwalks have been something that, although the team clearly is capable of digging themselves out of (just like 0-2 playoff series), remains a big area of improvement. Ultimately, tonight’s affair marks LAC being right in the middle of their first 5-games-in-7-days stretch of the young season. After tonight, the Clippers fly out for a brief back-to-back in Memphis and New Orleans.

The Antagonist

Capping off the trend in which the Clippers and Los Angeles Lakers have essentially taken turns welcoming opponents to Staples Center thus far in November, the Spurs enter tonight on a two-game skid thanks in part to LAL. At a 4-9 mark, the Spurs appear on pace to miss the playoffs in the brutal west for their third year in a row. With a defense that ranks in the upper half of the league thus far at 13, San Antonio could certainly find themselves in the Play-In watch once again, but they’re going to need to start collecting some quality wins. Aside from taking down Orlando twice by double-digits, routing Sacramento 136-117, and pouncing on a Milwaukee team down two starters, the Spurs are just 1-7 against Western Conference opponents thus far (including OKC).

This season, the Spurs have their youngest roster ever since Gregg Popovich became coach in 1996, with an average age of 24.5. San Antonio has eight players under the age of 25 and 13-of-17 players under the age of 27. There is no Spur that the Clippers need to be wary of than Dejounte Murray. The four-year, 6’5″ guard has taken a bit of a jump to be San Antonio’s best player so far this season. With per-game averages of 18.4 points on 45/32/69 shooting, 7.8 rebounds, 8.0 assists and 2.1 steals, Murray is the clear catalyst when the Spurs are threatening for a win. The departure of DeRozan has also seen Keldon Johnson and Derrick White take on larger roles this season, albeit that has yet to translate to more wins understandably so this early. Meanwhile, perhaps the second-biggest breakout for the Spurs this year has been from the 26-year-old Jakob Poeltl, who was averaging career-highs in minutes, points, rebounds, assists and steals per game. Unfortunately, Poeltl is out tonight as he continues to work his way back from a 10-day quarantine window. Nonetheless, San Antonio will trot out a rotation tonight with six guys averaging double-figures, just as the Clippers will.

Clippers vs. Spurs Game Notes

• Stops and Scores: With a team as three-point happy at times as the Clippers, the Spurs’ low-risk, paint-oriented, ball movement-heavy offense is something that could down LAC if they aren’t careful. The Clippers are typically one of the better teams at protecting the ball and the rim, but it could get pretty ugly if their three-ball isn’t falling.
• More Hands on Deck: Joining Jay Scrubb and Amir Coffey as an extra depth piece if needed tonight, Justise Winslow should be back after missing the Bulls game with a personal leave Sunday. Per The Athletic’s Law Murray, Winslow will be a new father any day now. (Update: Winslow has been ruled out for tonight’s game, per Tomer Azarly.)

• ReggieVision Rebound: Reggie Jackson certainly wasn’t the only Clipper in a bit of a funk last time out, but expect him to get back on track tonight. Last season, in the miniseries in San Antonio that notoriously saw Lou Williams dealt to Atlanta in the middle of it, Reggie Jackson helped ease some of the immediate pain with a 16-point explosion in the fourth.

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 San Antonio Spurs. 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. Spurs Preview: Back in the Saddle Again
Ralston Dacanay

A lot happened with the Clippers’ roster between our preview and this recap. The biggest news, of course, was the trading of Lou Williams for Rajon Rondo. As if that was not jarring enough, Kawhi Leonard (sore foot) and Marcus Morris, Sr. (calf contusion) were late scratches. That left us with the following starting five: Reggie Jackson, Paul George, Terance Mann, Patrick Patterson, and Ivica Zubac. Somehow, the Clippers won in a gritty 98-85 game. Check out the full game recap of the Clippers’ win over the Spurs below!

Summary

The Clippers came out steady and finished the first quarter with a three point lead. Although they shot poorly to start (41% FG% and 30% 3PT%), they out-rebounded the Spurs — including five first quarter offensive rebounds — and took advantage of the extra possessions. Reggie Jackson led the team with 12 first-quarter points and Paul George added seven. The Spurs were led by DeMar DeRozan, who had eight. Overall, those three led the scoring attacks for both teams throughout the game.

The Clippers’ poor shooting got worse in the second quarter and the Spurs took advantage, taking a 55-49 lead going into the half. The Clippers “bench,” which was just Kennard, Batum, and Coffey tonight, started the night cold and was responsible for giving up the lead. Notably, though, Amir Coffey had eight first half points on 3/5 shooting (2/4 from three). As the Clippers’ broadcast noted during the game, he looked confident and comfortable on the court, which was nice to see and a good sign for the development staff.

The third quarter went very well for the Clippers but was extremely odd from an objective perspective. The Clippers continued to shoot poorly from the field but they also continued to out-rebound the Spurs, so they were able to claw back and earn a four point lead. Also, it didn’t hurt that the Spurs only came up with 13 third-quarter points.

The Clippers put the Spurs away with free throws and a Reggie Jackson explosion in the final frame. Specifically, Reggie scored 16 points in the fourth quarter alone, including three shots from deep. Overall, the Clippers took care of business in a knuckleball of a game, largely due to their defense and rebounding.

Notes

Paul George Shows Inconsistencies: PG filled the stat sheet — 24pts, 13rbs, and 4ast — but only shot 10/28 from the field. He only took five three-point attempts and missed a lot of shots at the rim. I was happy to see him on the attack but he needs to come a little harder if he wants to finish at a higher efficiency (and get more fouls).

Reggie Jackson Dominated: “What do we need Rondo for?” — Reggie in the fourth quarter. In all seriousness, Reggie was efficient and played hard tonight. He had a season-high 28 points on 8/16 shooting (5/10 from three). It was nice to see the Clippers second-tier players step up to help beat a respectable team.

That about does it for this recap of the Clippers’ second game against the Spurs. Stay tuned for Lucas’ player grades and a new episode of TLTJTP focused on the Rondo trade!

Clippers vs. Spurs Game Recap: Clippers Take Two from San Antonio
Kenneth Armstrong

We’re back again with Clippers vs Spurs player grades after a disappointing loss for the Clippers, who really should have taken care of business against a Spurs team that is projected to finish near the bottom of the Western Conference. Like every other game this season, it was a contest of extreme highs and lows–LAC fell behind early, came back and took the lead near the end of the first, fell behind by 21 in the second quarter, tied the game at the end of the third, fell behind by 15 in the mid fourth, and clawed back enough to have three shots at winning the game or forcing overtime in the closing seconds.

As the Clippers have had their extreme highs and lows in this young season, and had their extreme highs and lows last night, so too will the player grades for this game have some extreme highs and lows. The question on my mind tonight, though, is how much to really blame guys for who they are. We know who Reggie Jackson is. We know who Lou Williams is. We know who Luke Kennard is. The team’s defense sucks when those three guys play together. Ty Lue doesn’t really have any options on nights when Paul George and Marcus Morris are both out (the reason he doesn’t have options is because the other bench guys are Terance Mann, who is an active defender with terrible positioning, and Patrick Patterson, who is an immobile defender who knows where he should be but can’t get there).

Clippers Starter Grades

• Patrick Beverley: A. Man, this was the quintessential Pat Bev game. A monster line–20 points, 8 rebounds, 8 assists–with positively huge shots down the stretch and a number of possession-winning hustle plays. To come back so many times LAC needed to win in the margins and he did everything he possibly could have to give them a shot. Yes, he found a way to finish with 5 fouls (of course), but he never had to be subbed out for foul trouble and two of his infractions came in the final moments of the game.

• Luke Kennard: C+. It was a rough night at the office for Luke Kennard, who I thought played well offensively but just didn’t get some good looks to drop, both creating for himself in the lane and on spot-ups. He finished 3-10 from the field and 1-5 from deep, including two misses in the waning minutes that would have been huge. But those are shots that you want him taking, and they’re shots that he’ll make. Despite his inefficiency I think his threat and creation (4 assists) were a net positive on the first unit’s offense tonight. But there’s a pretty hefty knock for being a part of the second unit disaster, even if he wasn’t solely responsible and was pulling double duty.

• Kawhi Leonard: A-. Kawhi had an A+ stat line but I’m taking points off. We shouldn’t shrug at his efficient 30 points, and 10-assist-to-0-turnover distribution that would make Chris Paul blush. But the Clippers’ starters came out with a lack of urgency and he was loafing a bit early. They managed to pull even late in the first but with the team so shorthanded, the starters needed to provide a buffer (which would have alleviated the Patty Mills onslaught). They didn’t. He was also quiet down the stretch, putting up just 2 points on 1-3 shooting in the fourth quarter of a close game. He did have 3 assists, and would have had a fourth if Kennard had made the would-be game-winner, but he didn’t even come close to taking over.

• Nic Batum: A. I keep checking because it doesn’t seem right: Nic had 21 points tonight. The last time he did that was in 2018. Throw in 9 rebounds, 3 assists, a steal, and a block, and Batum’s consistent good performances continue to fuel some unexpected conversations: is he the Clippers’ third-best player? Should he keep starting when Marcus Morris returns? What does a contract for him look like next summer?

• Serge Ibaka: D. Serge wasn’t great on defense tonight, but we know he isn’t a great defender. His offensive versatility is supposed to more than make up for a little bit of limited athleticism on the other end. But even more than other Clippers, he really struggles to impact the game when his shots aren’t falling. He was 1-7 tonight, including some easier two-point attempts, and couldn’t find a way to contribute to the offense.

Clippers Bench Player Grades

• Lou Williams: C+. Lou had some moments tonight–he came in in the first quarter and boosted LAC’s offense after early struggles, and he got a couple of buckets in the fourth. But 5-13 still isn’t efficient, he only had 2 assists, and both of the second unit’s horrific stints tonight were squarely due to defensive woes. Nobody expects Lou to be a great individual defender, but any time an entire lineup is awful on defense the accountability has to be shared.

• Reggie Jackson: C. Yeah, I just don’t think Reggie was terrible tonight. I’m often hypercritical of him and he had some typical Reggie moments that made me cringe, but I thought he overall gave the Clippers some fine minutes. I want to pause for a second here and make sure anyone who is new to this series, or otherwise forgot, knows that these grades include expectations. So a C for Reggie, a third-string point guard on a minimum-salary deal pressed into duty in deeply flawed three- and four-guard lineups because of injuries and poor roster construction, means he was adequate. The lineups he was in sucked, so he’s not getting a good grade, but I’m also not going to fail him because the lineups that were bad on the floor are bad on paper too.

• Ivica Zubac: D. Again, expectations are a factor here. I honestly don’t think the second unit’s defensive woes are Zu’s fault. You can’t throw one good-but-slow 7-footer out there with four guys 6’5″ and under who don’t know where to stand and then blame him for not single-handedly saving your defense. He’s not Anthony Davis or Kevin Garnett. When Zu played drop tonight, his guards died on the screen and let their man walk into open threes. When he stepped up, the Spurs moved the ball and the guys behind him were clueless in rotation. If he doesn’t help, opponents walk to the rim. If he does help, opponents kick the ball out and there’s no rotation to help him in return. Like everyone else in this lineup, he shares the responsibility for the defensive atrocity that went on with LAC’s bench tonight. Unlike some of the others, he didn’t offer much off-set offensively. Seriously, catch the ball, dude.

• Terance Mann: F. He’s just not playable. In theory, Terance is supposed to be an energetic, athletic defender-turned-point-guard who can defend multiple positions and push the ball in transition. We’ve seen it at times. But a lot of the time, like tonight, he’s just bad on both ends. All the length and energy in the world won’t save you on defense if you’re dying on screens, making bad gambles, and not positioning yourself well. And offensively he offers nothing against an organized NBA defense in the half-court. Mann shouldn’t be expected to play the fourth guard in this lineup as well as Paul George on either end, and it’s not his fault that these bench shifts couldn’t be saved. But he needs to bring a baseline of acceptable play when called on, and that didn’t happen tonight.

• Patrick Patterson: D. I feel similarly about Patterson, but he gets a little bit of credit for making both of his shots in 7 minutes to at least somewhat limit the bleeding on another disastrous defensive shift for the bench. Particularly, at the start of the fourth quarter where the bench just needed to try and maintain a tie, Patterson was part of a three-minute disaster where the team didn’t get a single stop. There might be moments where Patterson makes sense, but his lack of foot speed on defense makes him really hard to have utility against teams that play extremely small at the 4 like San Antonio, and frankly while he has value as a floor-spacer you need to protect him with good defenders rather than ask him to be a positive on that end. Again, it’s unreasonable to ask PatPat to save the Reggie-Lou-Luke triumvirate defensively, but it’s gotta be noted that he is contributing to the problem rather than mitigating it.

Clippers Without Grades

Paul George, Marcus Morris, and Jay Scrubb were all unavailable with injuries. Amir Coffey played briefly for a defensive possession at the end of the first quarter, while Mfiondu Kabengele and Daniel Oturu didn’t play tonight.

I won’t give Clippers head coach Ty Lue a grade, and I haven’t been grading him nightly all year, but I do want to touch a little bit on him here because I so frequently said above that players were being put in situations where you couldn’t reasonably expect them to succeed. A lot of folks might read that as pointing back towards a critique of coaching, which is fair, but not really how I feel about this game. Yes, of course, Ty put lineups out there that were a disaster defensively in the most predictable ways. But he also kind of had limited options.

Sure, maybe he could have staggered Beverley, Leonard, and Batum more effectively to keep two good defenders on the floor at all times. But just with the limitations of the roster he’s been given, that would have also meant having two liabilities on the floor at all times. The gamble he took was to try and survive horrible defense in his second unit shifts by loading up the firepower on that unit and keeping a solid defensive starting unit intact for the vast majority of the game. It didn’t pay off, in part because the bench was so atrocious defensively, in part because the Spurs didn’t miss any threes, in part because the bench firepower didn’t produce enough (30 LAC bench points vs 57 for SAS), and in part because the starting unit had several lackluster stretches. Everyone shares a bit in the failure, as it should be.

In reality, I just don’t think Ty had great options given to him. The Clippers have 11 players who can play 1-4. Five of them (Beverley, George, Leonard, Morris, Batum) are good defenders, and five of them (George, Leonard, Morris, Batum, Patterson) have the size to play the 3 and 4. You’ll notice the heavy overlap in that group. The Clippers have 1 small good defender, 5 small bad defenders, 4 big good defenders, and 1 big bad defender. Take away two of the big good defenders and you’re gonna end up stuck playing lineups that are both undersized and weak defensively. I’m not sure what Ty is supposed to do that.

The real failing grade here should go to LAC’s front office. We talked a lot about how LAC hit on the big moves this summer but made gaffes around the edges, and the lack of adequate depth that lost the Clippers this game is a direct result of those mistakes. I will be the first to admit that Reggie Jackson has far exceeded my expectations and played well individually so far this season, but he’s still a bad fit alongside Lou and Luke when the Clippers needed someone who was defensive-minded. Patrick Patterson has some (limited) utility as a shooter as I outlined above, but he’s also a bad fit because the team simply doesn’t have the defenders to protect him–and by inexplicably paying him over three million dollars, the team didn’t leave themselves enough room under the hard cap to fill the 15th roster spot. PatPat is essentially taking up two minimum-salary roster spots, and Ty Lue is playing 4-guard lineups ahead of him because of his defense. The team drafted big man Mfiondu Kabengele 27th last year, and he isn’t good enough to play emergency minutes at center. They also drafted Daniel Oturu 33rd this year, and he isn’t good enough to play emergency minutes at center. So on a roster limited to 14 players by the bad Patterson contract, the team is using two of those 14 spots on project bigs who they don’t even trust enough for third-string minutes.

You want to know why LAC can’t muster adequate defensive lineups on a night like tonight? It’s not because individual players are failing to live up to expectations, and it’s not because Ty Lue is playing the wrong combinations of guys. It’s because of the aforementioned series of errors in roster construction. It probably isn’t a big deal. When the Clippers are healthy, none of these guys will be playing anyway. But over the course of an NBA season, there was always going to be a night in the middle of the season with two starters out where you needed to be able to put together a serviceable lineup for the second quarter. We’ll probably get another tomorrow with Kawhi load managing on the back-to-back, and we’ll probably get a handful more here and there throughout the year. LAC’s FO didn’t plan well for them.

Clippers vs Spurs Player Grades
Lucas Hann

After going behind by 20 points in the first half, the LA Clippers would stage an epic comeback but ultimately fall short against the San Antonio Spurs, 116-113. Kawhi Leonard, Nicolas Batum, and Patrick Beverley all put forward stellar performances, but they didn’t get enough scoring support with Paul George and Marcus Morris sidelined to overcome the Spurs’ three-point downpour and scoring runs against the Clippers’ second units.

Clippers vs Spurs Game Summary

It was yet another lackluster start for the Clippers, who came out a bit lazily and immediately fell down 9-0 to a youthful Spurs lineup. After the game, Patrick Beverley would note that the team needs to play harder while Kawhi Leonard would cite a lack of urgency coming out of the gate–issues that have been frequent enough in the team’s first eight games that simply acknowledging them isn’t very meaningful anymore.

As the starters settled into the quarter, things started to look a little better. Nicolas Batum had 8 points, 4 rebounds, and 2 assists in the opening period and Lou Williams had a quick 7 points to boost a sputtering Clipper attack. They even took a narrow lead at 27-26. But on a night where the absence of two Clipper starters forced Ty Lue to play a weak and diminutive second unit, the team simply needed more from their starters than simply playing even against one of the weaker teams in the Western Conference.

Like clockwork, Patty Mills came into the game and began absolutely torching the Clippers. He went 4-5 from three in the closing minutes opening frame and was the driving force to flip the score from 27-26 to 27-36 heading into the break. So far this season, the Clippers have compensated for the absence of Marcus Morris by moving Nicolas Batum to the starting lineup, and then compensated for Batum’s absence from the second unit by staggering Paul George and Kawhi Leonard’s minutes to have George play power forward on the second unit.

With George and Morris absent, Ty Lue turned to sophomore guard Terance Mann at power forward in lineup with Reggie Jackson, Lou Williams, Luke Kennard, and Ivica Zubac. Jackson, Williams, and Kennard are all sub-par defenders, and Mann is both not an impactful enough defender to make the lineup serviceable and a poor enough offensive player to hurt the lineup’s ability to score. The Clippers lost the first half by 19 points. They lost Terance Mann’s 8:38 on the floor by 20.

That’s not to say that Mann was some kind of isolated issue, the only problem holding this team back. Playing the Spurs even in the other 16 minutes is a disappointing performance for the Clippers’ starters, and the second unit’s collapse was really a case of Mann not being good enough to fix a deeply flawed lineup, not him personally causing issues. As is often the case, team three-point variance had a big impact on small-sample +/-, even though that isn’t necessarily any individual player’s fault–that is to say, it doesn’t help that -20 number that the Spurs made 5 of their 8 three-point attempts with Mann on the floor compared to 1 of 7 for the Clippers.

In the second half, things were different for the Clippers’ starters. By the 6:57 mark of the third, the 19-point halftime deficit had been cut all the way to 6, with Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverley doing much of the heavy lifting. Leonard had 11 points in the third quarter to Beverley’s 10 as the Clippers won the period 40 to 22 and came roaring back to tie the game entering the final frame.

But the success in the second unit’s third quarter stretch–with veteran forward Patrick Patterson in place of Mann–turned out to be fool’s gold. As I said above, Jackson, Williams, and Kennard are all poor defenders. Patterson’s inclusion added a fourth to the lineup, and the Spurs had no trouble scoring on every possession to start the fourth quarter. Seriously, the Clippers didn’t get a fourth quarter stop until a Jakob Poeltl turnover at the 9:13 mark. By that point, the deficit was back to double digits, 97-87.

Climbing a 10+-point hill again was always going to be daunting, but thing were about to get even worse. Kawhi Leonard and Patrick Beverley returns to the game with the scoreline at 102-92, the Clippers’ work cut out for them in the final 8 minutes. Then, again, like clockwork, our old friend Patty Mills emerged, hitting three backbreaking threes that made up San Antonio’s only scoring in the middle stretch of the fourth and keeping the Clippers at bay. By the time Mills’ work was done, the Clippers were down 15 with 5 minutes left instead of 10 with 8.

Still, far be it from Patrick Beverley to ever give up. In the midst of one of his best performances as a Clipper–20 points on 10 shots, 6-9 from deep, 8 assists, 8 rebounds, and 2 blocks–Bev made both possession-saving hustle plays and huge shots down the stretch as the Clippers clawed their way back into the game. A 113-99 deficit with 4:30 to play turned into a 113-116 final score as the Clippers surged to a 14-3 closing run that fell just short of stealing a win at the last moment. Down 2 in the waning seconds, Lou Williams and Luke Kennard each missed threes, with Kennard finding the bottom of the net from deep moments later only to have the shot waved off due to a loose ball foul from Patrick Beverley, whose effort had kept the ball alive for LAC to get a third attempt. Gifted another life by a Patty Mills missed free throw, Kawhi Leonard got an attempt off at the horn to force overtime but missed the mark.

For the Clippers, there were clearly stretches of the game, particularly in the first half, where they just didn’t get enough from their main guys. The starters came out without urgency, Serge Ibaka was nonexistent on a night when LAC needed firepower, and Kawhi Leonard had just 2 points in the fourth quarter. But as has been the case several times this season, things truly spiraled when Ty Lue went to his bench. At times, the issues on the second unit can be glaring, particularly on the nights when Reggie Jackson has simply been unplayable. But to be honest, Reggie has only had a couple of stinkers this year, and his individual play was fine tonight and has been (at least) fine most of the time.

The real problem with the Clippers’ second unit is that they are so, so bad defensively as a collective unit that it only takes a couple of miscues offensively–and not necessarily egregious ones, even just a missed jumper or intercepted pass–for the other team to spark a run, because LAC’s lineup simply cannot defend. Things go more smoothly when Paul George is available. And the problems will presumably be mitigated even more when Marcus Morris returns to the lineup and the Clippers add both another capable defender and a forward with size to their rotation. But the Reggie – Lou – Luke trio just do not fit well together, and that’s a problem for this team–maybe a problem that can be overcome when they’re fully healthy and the rotation is more staggered, but a problem nonetheless.

Diagnosing where the Clippers lost this game is easy, but figuring out what they should have done about it is less so. Playing Patterson at PF is, clearly, not the answer to any defensive problems. Mfiondu Kabengele and Daniel Oturu don’t even appear to be good enough to be considered for rotation minutes, even when the Clippers are shorthanded. Terance Mann has some utility but is unreliable. I actually think the Clippers lost this game in November, when they made a series of end-of-roster moves that were critiqued by myself and Robert Flom at the time as damaging their depth, a worry that was realized tonight as Lue struggled to find playable combinations of players. With four roster spots taken up by the aforementioned players who can’t be counted on in emergencies, and a fifth held open because the team paid Patterson too much and couldn’t afford to fill their final roster spot, you have to wonder how tonight’s second unit minutes would have gone if LAC had a reliable defensive forward on their second unit like Solomon Hill or (current free agent!!) Rondae Hollis-Jefferson.

Game Notes

• Kawhi’s Consistency: Kawhi went deep into his bag in the third quarter, forcing the issue offensively with tremendous success and getting whatever he wanted while displaying a high degree of skill. Kawhi is obviously the Clippers’ clear #1 option offensively with George sidelined, and a passive start from him hurt the team. He finished with a tremendous, efficient 30-point, 10-assist, 0-turnover performance, but started as slowly as he began. I don’t mind the missed shot at the buzzer, but he simply needs to do better than 2 points on 1-3 shooting in the fourth quarter of a close game.

• Twenty: All eight of the Clippers’ games have now featured a 20-point lead, 5 in the Clippers’ favor and 3 not. This NBA season has been historically volatile in its early weeks, with some staggering scorelines, and the Clippers have been no different. In fact, they are a perfect example of it. Across the league, no team has pulled off a comeback from 20+ so far this year (though LAC very nearly became the first tonight). It’s pretty common for big first-half leads to get erased in the night-to-night slog of the regular season, as we’ve seen in the Clippers’ last three games. Eventually, some teams will pull off some big comebacks.

• Zu: Catch the basketball, dude.

• Down Under: We all know that Aussie guard Patty Mills can explode from beyond the three-point arc, but it’s worth noting just how much of an outlier tonight was: this was his second-highest scoring night in 7 years and the only time in his career that he’s made eight threes in a game. Sometimes you just gotta take your lumps, and Patty was unstoppable tonight.

• Back-to-back: This is the Clippers’ second back-to-back of the season, after they won two blowouts last week against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Portland Trail Blazers. Against the Wolves, Kawhi Leonard was spared the scrutiny of his typical load management on back-to-backs while recovering from a mouth laceration, while Paul George played both games. Tonight, George was a late scratch with ankle soreness. If I had to guess, I’d guess that George plays tomorrow against the Golden State Warriors while Leonard sits.

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Clippers Fall Short Against Spurs, 116-113
Lucas Hann

Are you a Clippers fan who isn’t sure who to root for in the NBA’s August 11th bubble games? You’re in the right place.

With each team playing just eight “seeding games” in Orlando before the playoffs begin, there’s limited time to both battle for playoff positioning as well as build momentum after a four-month layoff. That means that, while we obviously want the Clippers to be successful, Clippers fans can’t just pay attention to LAC–nearly every game played in the NBA over this two-week span is important to the playoff picture.

Monday’s games began to provide more clarity in some of the seeding races out West, and more will come as the teams that have stubbornly refused to separate from each other throughout bubble play face their final, crucial games this week.

The NBA’s August 11th Bubble Games

All times Pacific Time.

Brooklyn Nets vs Orlando Magic, 10:00am, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Orlando Magic

These teams have clinched 7th and 8th in the East already, making what could have been a climactic late-bubble head-to-head relatively meaningless. I’d like to see Orlando win to help them build a little momentum heading into their first-round series with Milwaukee, but this game really isn’t an important one.

Houston Rockets vs San Antonio Spurs, 11:00am, NBATV

Rooting for: San Antonio Spurs

The Spurs are still technically alive in the fight for the 8/9 play-in tournament, and we’d actually like to see those hopes squashed. Portland and Phoenix are the two stronger teams that we’d like to see potentially play the Lakers, and if they can’t battle each other in the play-in, then we’d like them to face the weaker Memphis Grizzlies, who seem likely to go just 1-7 or 2-6 in bubble play.

But a Houston loss is far more important to the Clippers than the play-in race at the bottom of the conference. Currently, the Clippers’ magic # to finish above Houston is 1–that means just a single LAC win or Rockets loss puts the Clippers officially in 2nd or 3rd and closes the door on a nightmare scenario where they fall to 4th and face the Lakers in the second round instead of the Western Conference Finals.

After the Lakers beat the Nuggets Monday night, Houston winning out would drastically increase their chances of moving up into 3rd. If they lose just one game, though, Denver will have a significant upper hand in the race for 3rd–and could clinch a top-3 finish by beating the Clippers Wednesday night.

And if the Rox lose this week, that Denver win becomes more likely. Once the Clippers know that the Rockets cannot pass them, it gives them the flexibility to manage their remaining games (vs Denver on Wednesday and vs OKC on Friday) to manipulate the standings and set up their preferred bracket.

Houston is holding James Harden out of this game, and Eric Gordon continues to be out, so Russell Westbrook will have his hands full. It’s still a winnable contest for the Rockets without Harden and Gordon, but hopefully those absences and this game coming on the front end of a back-to-back are an indicator that Houston will limit their starters’ minutes and concede this one, clinching a top-3 finish for LAC.

Phoenix Suns vs Philadelphia 76ers, 1:30pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Phoenix Suns

Man, if you had told me that the Suns would be the NBA bubble’s must-watch team, I wouldn’t have believed you. But here we are, with a perfect 6-0 Suns team really looking like they might pull off a play-in berth.

At 8-0, the Suns wouldn’t clinch a spot, but they would force Portland to be perfect (finishing 6-2) to stay ahead of them. The 8-0 Suns would also move ahead of Memphis if the Grizzlies finish 1-7. But if the Blazers win their final two games (DAL/BKN) and the Grizzlies win even one more game (BOS/MIL), Phoenix could see their 8-0 record leave them in 10th, out of the play-in picture.

7-1 doesn’t mathematically eliminate them, but they could no longer pass Memphis and would need the Blazers to lose both remaining games, plus the Spurs to pick up another loss, in order to finish 8th to Memphis’ 9th.

We don’t really care about the Sixers here. They’ll have a chance to move up from 6th into the 4/5 matchup, as Indiana and Miami have another head-to-head coming up this week, but I don’t buy them as an impactful playoff competitor with how they’ve trended in recent weeks (and all year).

Boston Celtics vs Memphis Grizzlies, 2:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Boston Celtics

As I just mentioned, Memphis losses greatly help the Suns stay strong in the play-in race. With two losses in their final two games, the Grizzlies could drop out of the play-in tournament entirely, opening up the spots for the Suns and Blazers to challenge each other.

Short of that, though, we’d still prefer for Memphis to lose at least one more game, leaving the door open for Portland to finish 8th. Remember, the 8th-place team only needs to beat 9th once to qualify, while 9th needs to beat 8th twice in a row. Portland reaching the 8th position would not only increase their chances of advancing but also give them an opportunity to do so while playing one fewer game.

Portland Trail Blazers vs Dallas Mavericks, 3:30pm, TNT

Rooting for: Portland Trail Blazers

It’s a full day of the play-in race, as San Antonio, Phoenix, Memphis, and Portland play back-to-back-to-back-to-back in Tuesday’s first four games. We want Portland to win here, for reasons that have mostly already been laid out above. This would give them their 5th win, and leave them needing just one last victory against the lowly Brooklyn Nets (we saw how that went for the Clippers) to not only clinch a play-in berth but in all likelihood finish in the 8th position.

One interesting sub-plot to watch if this game doesn’t go Portland’s way: Utah’s struggles (the Jazz are 2-5 so far in the bubble) has opened the door for Dallas to move ahead of the Jazz and/or Thunder. Dallas’ last game after Portland is against Phoenix on Thursday. Oklahoma City has two games left, against the Heat Wednesday and Clippers Friday. Utah’s finale comes against the Spurs on Thursday.

If Dallas wins out, including Tuesday’s game against Portland, they put themselves in a position to pass Utah if the Jazz lose to San Antonio as well as potentially pass the Thunder if OKC loses their final two games. In that case, Utah would finish 7th to OKC’s 6th on tiebreaker. I’m not ready to root for Dallas just to make this scenario materialize (and frankly I like the Clippers’ match-up with Dallas in a 2-7), as too many things need to happen with 0 margin for error. But it’s something we’ll definitely track if they win here.

New Orleans Pelicans vs Sacramento Kings, 6:00pm, TNT

Milwaukee Bucks vs Washington Wizards, 6:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: taking the night off

After a bunch of impactful games earlier in the day, this dual nightcaps are both sleepers. On TNT, we’ve got the two earliest eliminated teams in the Western Conference playing head-to-head. This could have been a fun and impactful contest if either team showed up to Orlando intending to compete, but they both seemed eager to go home as quickly as possible.

On NBA League Pass, the league-leading Milwaukee Bucks have already clinched the no. 1 seed in the East and will be playing on the second night of a back-to-back against a Wizards team that is 0-6 in the bubble and didn’t bring their best players to Orlando (not that their roster was very competitive when intact).

There’s been a lot of basketball over the last few weeks. This pairing Tuesday evening makes for a nice excuse to watch something else (or maybe go outside, if you’re into that kind of thing), and get ready for an important Wednesday, where the Clippers could clinch the 2nd seed, and the right combination of outcomes could officially block Denver into 4th as well.

Yesterday’s Games

Oklahoma City Thunder 101, Phoenix Suns 128

We were rooting for: Phoenix Suns

The Suns improved to 6-0, notably against an OKC team that rested their entire starting lineup except for Chris Paul (who only played 24 minutes). We talked enough about the road ahead for Phoenix above, but OKC’s throw here is enough to make you wonder if the Thunder see the standings taking shape ahead of them and want to play Denver in the first round instead of Houston.

Dallas Mavericks 122, Utah Jazz 114

We were rooting for: Utah Jazz

It would have been really nice to see the Jazz win here and put themselves in position to finish ahead of the Thunder in the standings, as we’d like to see a slugfest between OKC and Denver in the first round tire out LAC’s 2nd round opponent while the Rockets get an easier match-up in Utah and rest up before facing the Lakers.

But the Jazz can read the standings too, and they feel the sting from two 5-game eliminations at the hands of James Harden and the Rockets the last two years. They sat Donovan Mitchell today and no starter played more than 16 minutes. With the Thunder, we’re wondering if they’re throwing games to avoid Houston–with the Jazz, we know it.

Toronto Raptors 114, Milwaukee Bucks 108

We were rooting for: nobody

This game didn’t matter for anyone, least of all the two teams playing. Milwaukee and Toronto have both cliched the 1 and 2 seeds in the East, respectively, and are favorites to play each other in the Eastern Conference Finals.

Indiana Pacers 92, Miami Heat 114

We were rooting for: Miami Heat

Not that it’s a huge deal, but in a compact 4-5-6 race in the East between these two teams and Philadelphia, Miami is the strongest, so we’re glad to see them stay in 4th and presumably take on Milwaukee in the second round.

Denver Nuggets 121, Los Angeles Lakers 124

We were rooting for: Denver Nuggets

This game was deeply disappointing, as the Nuggets could have easily come away victorious but chose instead to rest their starters down the stretch, ultimately losing to a Kyle Kuzma game-winner that put the Lakers up by 3. The Nuggets, trailing by 3, attempted a 2-point shot at the buzzer, if you were wondering how interested this tired, shorthanded Denver squad was in another overtime game.

Now, Denver has severely jeopardized their odds of landing in the 3-seed in the West. A Clippers win over Denver on Wednesday–which would clinch the 2-seed for LAC (which means a lot, since they are currently still able to slide all the way to 4th) would set the Nuggets back even further in the 3/4 race with Houston. This is where the Clippers’ bad loss to Brooklyn really hurts–if they had taken care of business, there would be no way for LAC to fall to 4th regardless of the Rockets’ upcoming success.

A lot depends on how Houston fares in their Tuesday/Wednesday back-to-back, but if the Rockets win both games and the Clippers beat the Nuggets on Denver, Houston will be squarely in the driver’s seat to finish 3rd heading into Friday’s finales.

Denver’s magic number to finish ahead of Houston is 2–that means 2 Nuggets wins or Rockets losses, with Denver having 2 games left to play to Houston’s 3. That means if the Nuggets split their games because the Clippers beat them, then Houston can secure the 3-seed by winning out.

Stay tuned in to 213Hoops every day of the NBA’s Orlando Bubble for a new Rooting Interests.

Check out the spreadsheet for updated seeding scenarios.

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.

Rooting Interests: The NBA’s August 11th Bubble Games
Lucas Hann

Are you a Clippers fan who isn’t sure who to root for in the NBA’s August 9th bubble games? You’re in the right place.

With each team playing just eight “seeding games” in Orlando before the playoffs begin, there’s limited time to both battle for playoff positioning as well as build momentum after a four-month layoff. That means that, while we obviously want the Clippers to be successful, Clippers fans can’t just pay attention to LAC–nearly every game played in the NBA over this two-week span is important to the playoff picture.

Saturday broke perfectly for the Clippers, with them winning and the Denver Nuggets beating the Utah Jazz. Now, the Clippers are well set up to secure all of their preferred outcomes this week. Let’s take a look at the desired outcomes for each of Sunday’s 7 games.

The NBA’s August 9th Bubble Games

All times Pacific Time.

Washington Wizards vs Oklahoma City Thunder, 9:30am, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Washington Wizards

This one is a bit of a long shot, but if the already-eliminated Wizards can pull of a bit of early-morning weirdness against OKC, it would be pretty nice for the Clippers. Technically, the door is still open for the Houston Rockets to slide to 6th place, and losses from Utah and OKC help close that door.

Plus, if we could choose, we’d like for OKC to finish 6th and Utah 5th. I know folks are (rightfully) more scared of OKC than Utah, so let me explain my reasoning here. Between Denver, OKC, and Utah, the Clippers should be able to win their second-round series regardless of opponent. While I agree that the Utah Jazz without Bojan Bogdanovic are the weakest of the three, that actually likely means that if the Jazz finish 6th, the Clippers will never see them–they’ll lose to Denver in the 3-6.

So, I see the choice between Utah and OKC for 6th as being a choice between seeing Denver, likely well-rested after an easy first-round series against the Jazz, or either Denver or OKC, fatigued and beaten up from a brutal series against the other. Remember how the Lob City Clippers never won a first-round series in less than 7 games, and were always heading into the 2nd round on a rest and health disadvantage?

Giving Denver the tougher match-up in Oklahoma City increases the chances of the Clippers entering R2 with a rest and health advantage. Plus, giving Houston the Jazz in the first round could help the Rockets enter R2 against the Lakers without any rest and health disadvantage of their own (especially if the Blazers take a game or two from LAL).

Memphis Grizzlies vs Toronto Raptors, 11:00am, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Toronto Raptors

Memphis’ first bubble win pushed every play-in contender except for Portland–New Orleans, San Antonio, Sacramento, and Phoenix–to the brink of elimination. The Kings lost on Friday, ending their hopes of passing the Grizzlies. The Suns, Pelicans, and Spurs are all still barely alive.

A Grizzlies win here would pretty much end any competition down the standings and make it a straight race between Portland and Memphis to determine who will be 8th and who will be 9th heading in to the play-in tournament. Remember, if 8th wins the first play-in game or lose and then win the second, they move on to the playoffs, while 9th needs to beat 8th two nights in a row to advance.

While it would be nice for Memphis to close the door on some of the lower teams, we’ll trust that those matters will take care of themselves eventually and root for a Grizzlies loss to help Portland finish 8th and not 9th. If the Blazers have to play both nights of the play-in tournament, then Game 1 vs the Lakers would be their 7th game in 10 nights. If Memphis finishes 1-7, the Blazers need to find 2 wins in their last 3 games (PHI/DAL/BKN) to finish 8th. If the Grizzlies win another game, Portland needs to be perfect. And if Memphis wins 2 or all 3 of their 3 remaining games (TOR/BOS/MIL), Portland cannot pass them.

San Antonio Spurs vs New Orleans Pelicans, 12:00pm, ABC

Rooting for: San Antonio Spurs

This is a huge match-up for these two, with the loser all but eliminated (either team can no longer pass Memphis with a loss, and move to relying on a bunch of Portland losses to steal 9th). We’re going for a Spurs win here, but it’s nothing personal: San Antonio (HOU/UTA) just has a tougher schedule the rest of the way than New Orleans (SAC/ORL). This is the easiest game left for the Spurs, and they’ll likely be eliminated later in the week anyway. If the Pelicans win here, in their toughest remaining game, they could actually close 3-0 and sneak into the play-in tournament.

There’s only two play-in pairings I care for: Portland against Memphis, giving the Blazers their easiest possible path to the playoffs, or Portland against Phoenix, giving the red-hot 8-0 Suns a chance to improve to 10-0 and prove they’re the strongest team to challenge the Lakers. I’m fine with either–but if it’s not gonna be Phoenix, I’d just as soon root for Portland to have an easier time so they can rest up for the Lakers.

Orlando Magic vs Boston Celtics, 2:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Boston Celtics

The Celtics can’t really move in the standings at this point, but the Magic still can–and we’d rather they stay in 8th and at least make the Milwaukee Bucks sweep an NBA team with a real starting lineup and not the shell of the Brooklyn Nets, who currently sit in 7th.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Portland Trail Blazers, 3:30pm, NBATV

Rooting for: Portland Trail Blazers

We’ve been rooting for Philly lately, with hopes of them rising into 5th and challenging the Bucks in the second round. But with Ben Simmons needing a minor knee operation and TJ Warren’s Pacers continuing to surge, I’m ready to give up on the Sixers.

Especially when Portland is the team on the other bench. As discussed above, Portland needs to win at least 2 of their last 3 games if they want to enter the play-in tournament from the 8th spot. Getting the first one here would be nice.

Houston Rockets vs Sacramento Kings, 5:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Sacramento Kings

I don’t have a lot of faith in the Kings to pull this off, but maybe relieved of the pressure of a playoff push they can start to have a little bit of fun on the basketball court. If that happens, and the Rockets overlook them and have an off shooting night, maybe there could be an upset.

It would certainly help the Clippers, as LAC beating Brooklyn Sunday, combined with Houston losing one of their 3 games on Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday, puts us awfully close to confirming LAC’s 2-seed while keeping Houston in the 4-5 match-up.

Brooklyn Nets vs LA Clippers, 6:00pm, NBATV

Rooting for: Rodney and the McShooters

This would be the Clippers’ 4th win in the bubble, and guarantee them a top-3 finish. Their magic # for clinching the 2 seed would be 1 LAC win or Denver Loss, spread across Denver’s match-up with the Lakers Monday, the LAC-DEN head-to-head Wednesday, the Clippers’ finale against Oklahoma City on Friday, and Denver’s finale against Toronto (also on Friday). I like those odds.

The protection from this win would allow the Clippers to throw Wednesday’s game against Denver if necessary to keep the Rockets in 4th (click the link for a google spreadsheet of different scenarios) and still control their own destiny: a win Friday against OKC guarantees them 2nd place regardless of how Denver finishes.

Yesterday’s Games

Los Angeles Clippers 122, Portland Trail Blazers 117

We were rooting for: LA Clippers

A lot of Clippers fans wanted the Clippers to lose this game to help Portland secure 8th place and a first-round match-up with the Lakers–and it seems like the Clippers were in agreement, as Kawhi Leonard was a late scratch and Doc Rivers benched his starters down the stretch of a tight game, closing with Terance Mann, Landry Shamet, Rodney McGruder, Patrick Patterson, and JaMychal Green.

It didn’t work, though, as the Clippers’ bench–helped by two late missed free throws by Damian Lillard–pulled ahead and ultimately won the game. Check out 213Hoops’ full game recap.

Frankly, I’m glad. Throwing the game against Portland would have been a mistake, both because the Blazers are likely to reach the 1-8 match-up without LAC’s help and because bigger priorities–like clinching 2nd and keeping Houston in 4th–could have been compromised by the loss. Remember that chart up there detailing when the Clippers should and shouldn’t throw Wednesday’s game against Denver to ensure that LAC-DEN-HOU finish 2-3-4? Without this win against Portland, the Clippers’ flexibility to manipulate those outcomes would be drastically reduced.

Utah Jazz 132, Denver Nuggets 134 (2OT)

We were rooting for: Denver Nuggets

This might have been the best game of the bubble, and fortunately it concluded in the way we were hoping: with the Nuggets getting a little further ahead of the Rockets to reduce Houston’s odds of climbing to 3rd, and the Jazz falling a little further behind the Rockets to reduce Houston’s odds of sliding to 6th.

Utah’s last 2 games are against Dallas and San Antonio. In order for them to pass Houston, the Jazz either need to finish 2-0 to the Rockets’ 1-3, or 1-1 to the Rockets’ 0-4. To pass Oklahoma City, they need to lose 2 fewer games than the Thunder (OKC has 4 left, WAS/PHX/MIA/LAC).

Los Angeles Lakers 111, Indiana Pacers 116

We were rooting for: Indiana Pacers

I don’t know what happened to TJ Warren during quarantine, but he’s a different player than he was before. Warren had another massive night, with 39 points on 15-22 shooting, including a dagger three to push the Pacers ahead by six with just under 10 seconds to play.

It’s unclear how much the Lakers’ struggles actually matter–they came into bubble play with the 1-seed guaranteed and have played a bunch of teams with much more urgency. But you can’t deny that they’re struggling, and that’s definitely better than if they were coasting at 6-0 and looking dominant.

Phoenix Suns 119, Miami Heat 112

We were rooting for: Phoenix Suns

The Suns stay perfect in the bubble, and in order to have any hopes of making the play-in tournament, they’ll need to stay perfect–winning their last 3 games against Oklahoma City, Philadelphia, and Dallas.

Even that might not be enough. Phoenix came into Orlando at such a disadvantage that they’ll also need for either Memphis to stay at 1-7 or Portland to lose again and finish 5-3 or worse. The Suns would be technically still alive at 7-1, but would be unable to pass Memphis and have to hope to finish 9th with help from Portland, San Antonio, and New Orleans.

Milwaukee Bucks 132, Dallas Mavericks 136

We were rooting for: Milwaukee Bucks

This game meant nothing in the standings for either team, but both stuck with their starters down the stretch. It served as a nice reminder that the Mavs can play a 120-point game with anyone if you don’t contain Luka. It was a signature win for the Mavs behind 36 points, 19 assists, and and 14 rebounds from Luka Doncic. This was the blueprint for Dallas to steal playoff games against an elite team like the Clippers–which could make it good study material for LAC heading in to the first round.

Stay tuned in to 213Hoops every day of the NBA’s Orlando Bubble for a new Rooting Interests.

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.

Rooting Interests: The NBA’s August 9th Bubble Games
Lucas Hann

Are you a Clippers fan who isn’t sure who to root for in the NBA’s August 5th bubble games? You’re in the right place.

With each team playing just eight “seeding games” in Orlando before the playoffs begin, there’s limited time to both battle for playoff positioning as well as build momentum after a four-month layoff. That means that, while we obviously want the Clippers to be successful, Clippers fans can’t just pay attention to LAC–nearly every game played in the NBA over this two-week span is important to the playoff picture.

The Clippers’ loss to the Phoenix Suns at the buzzer yesterday certainly put a damper on things, but there’s just too much good basketball and standings intrigue around the league to stay discouraged for long. Let’s dive in.

The NBA’s August 5th Bubble Games

All times Pacific Time.

Memphis Grizzlies vs Utah Jazz, 11:30am, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Memphis Grizzlies

When two teams that you want to lose go up against each other, it can be a blessing and a curse. One is guaranteed to pick up that coveted loss, but the other is guaranteed to win.

We’ve been rooting against the Memphis Grizzlies (sorry, Grizz) because their fall from 8th place in the West opens up more possibilities for stronger teams, like Portland, to make their way into the play-in tournament. With the really unfortunate news that Jaren Jackson Jr. will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury, the Grizzlies’ fall now seems almost inevitable.

Utah, meanwhile, sits in 5th place in the West, just a half-game ahead of the Oklahoma City Thunder and a half-game behind the Houston Rockets. The Clippers want to make sure Houston stays in the 4-5 matchup–that means Denver winning to hold on to 3rd, and OKC and/or Utah losing to fall securely to 6th.

Because of Utah’s unlikeliness to be able to keep up with the surging Houston Rockets over the full bubble slate, it would be easy to pull for them here in order to help other teams get into the 8-seed battle. But ultimately, the stakes in the race for 8th are low for the Clippers–the Lakers are likely sweeping all of the contending teams. Avoiding Houston in the 2nd round is paramount, so we’ll keep our priorities in order.

Philadelphia 76ers vs Washington Wizards, 1:00pm, NBATV

Rooting for: Philadelphia 76ers

I’m going to reverse course a bit and root for the Sixers to win 5th place over the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference. Philly is probably one of the least fun teams in the league, but a focused Sixers team has the talent and experience to give Milwaukee a tough series in the 2nd round, no matter how joyless they make basketball.

Fortunately, this is a freebie for the Sixers, as Washington is primed to go 0-8 in the bubble. Unfortunately, they’re the Sixers, so they might lose just for the hell of it.

Denver Nuggets vs San Antonio Spurs, 1:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Denver Nuggets

With two teams involved in relevant Western Conference seeding races, this is likely the most important of the NBA’s August 5th bubble games for us to keep an eye on.

The Clippers want to be cautious of Denver, who is right on their heels in the 2-3 race in the West, but also need the Nuggets to keep winning and avoid being passed by the 4th-place Houston Rockets. If anything, Denver-LAC-Houston is a preferable 2-3-4 finish to LAC-Houston-Denver, as homecourt advantage in the second round is meaningless and the Clippers should be able to win their first-round series regardless of opponent.

Needing a Denver win is nice, because we’d also like to see a Spurs loss here. Despite looking sturdy in the bubble (2-1, with their loss to Philly on a game-winner in the closing seconds), I am not yet a believer in San Antonio, and they simply are providing competition for Portland and New Orleans, two teams that I rate more highly. Hell, maybe Devin Booker’s Suns belong in the conversation too (though they would need a miraculous run to reach the play-in tournament).

Oklahoma City Thunder vs Los Angeles Lakers, 3:30pm, ESPN

Rooting for: Los Angeles Lakers

This is a rough one for Clippers fans, who will struggle with wanting their most bitter rival to come away with a win over the unofficial second-favorite team of Clipper Nation: the OKC Thunder with Chris Paul, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, and Danilo Gallinari.

But OKC’s shared duty with the Utah Jazz to be the backstop keeping Houston from falling to 6th is more important than our personal preferences, so I’d be happier to see a Lakers victory here.

But, as always, any Lakers loss helps the Clippers a bit, as we’d love to see them suffer a little losing streak and head into the playoffs with some worries about their weak guard rotation. I also feel like Houston will outpace OKC and Utah without needing much help. So, not the end of the world if OKC wins here.

Toronto Raptors vs Orlando Magic, 5:00pm, NBA League Pass

Rooting for: Toronto Raptors

I’m more and more feeling like Toronto and Milwaukee might be a tighter contest in the Eastern Conference Finals than we’ve admitted all year–and while that obviously means I have tremendous respect for the Raptors, I still would feel better about playing them than the Bucks (though the narrative power of Kawhi against the Raptors would be overwhelming).

So, in the most inconsequential match-up of the NBA’s August 5th bubble games, the Raptors will get to potentially set Orlando back in their tussle for 7/8 with Brooklyn, making it more likely that the Bucks face an actual NBA team in the first round… though after Brooklyn upset Milwaukee today, who knows what’s best.

Brooklyn Nets vs Boston Celtics, 6:00pm, ESPN

Rooting for: Brooklyn Nets

Can lightning strike twice? Brooklyn beat Milwaukee on Tuesday, though the Bucks treated it like a pre-season game, playing all 13 active players double-digit minutes, with Giannis Antetokounmpo playing just 16.

In order for Boston to be passed by Miami, they need to do 2 games worse than the Heat in the bubble. Thanks to Miami’s win over Boston yesterday, the Heat have made up one of those 2 games. Miami’s last 5 games: Milwaukee, Phoenix, Indiana, Oklahoma City, Indiana. Boston’s: Brooklyn, Toronto, Orlando, Memphis, Washington. That’s a pretty significant schedule advantage for the Celtics, so they’ll need to lose at least one game they have no business losing for this to get interesting.

In the race for 7th in the East, Brooklyn now has a half-game advantage over the Magic, with both teams having 5 games remaining. They’ll both be underdogs in their remaining contests, making their head-to-head match-up in game 7 crucial in that race.

Yesterday’s Games

Brooklyn Nets 119, Milwaukee Bucks 116

We were rooting for: Brooklyn Nets

As I mentioned above, this wasn’t really the upset one might believe based on the scoreline, and the Bucks treated it like a pre-season game and played second- and third-string player major minutes, using what is essentially a free game to get different players reps. Milwaukee is locked in to the 1-seed in the East and faces no consequences for any losses in seeding games.

But for the Nets, the 7/8 race against Orlando is a coin flip. I don’t really think this one matters–both teams will get swept by Milwaukee and Toronto regardless of who faces whom, but that doesn’t mean that Brooklyn can’t take some pride in their play and try to finish 7th instead of 8th.

Dallas Mavericks 114, Sacramento Kings 110 (OT)

We were rooting for: Sacramento Kings

Despite Sacramento’s repeated letdowns in the bubble, they still have an outside shot at life–with Memphis likely to slide in the standings and the Kings having two head-to-head games against New Orleans remaining, they’ll need to pass the Suns and either Portland or San Antonio to reach the play-in tournament. It helps that the Kings still have a game left against Brooklyn, plus a more difficult contest vs the Houston Rockets and a finale against the Los Angeles Lakers, who could rest players. The margin for error, though, is virtually nonexistent–if they even go 4-1 in these last 5 games, they need Memphis to go 0-8.

For Dallas, it’s a sign of relief to get a win at last in the bubble, and keeps an outside shot that the Mavs could climb in the standings: it’s possible if they go 4-1 in their last 5 games (Clippers, Bucks, Jazz, Blazers, and Suns) and Oklahoma City and/or Utah struggle, or even if Dallas goes 3-2 and either of those teams truly plummets.

Phoenix Suns 117, Los Angeles Clippers 115

We were rooting for: our team

I won’t talk about the game itself here, as I wrote the recap and you can read my thoughts there.

What I will say is that the Clippers are still in the driver’s seat for the 2nd seed, but not firmly in control–their 7th seeding game vs Denver could decide the race if LAC doesn’t get separation before then.

For Phoenix, the road to a play-in game doesn’t look very passable, but as long as they’re undefeated, I won’t count them out. They have a tough last 5 games with no head-to-head opportunities against their competitors (Indiana, Miami, OKC, Philly, Dallas), and can only really afford one loss before they start needing serious help from the teams ahead of them. At 7-1, they’d be ahead of Portland, New Orleans, and Sacramento if those teams go 4-4, and San Antonio if they go 5-3. But if Phoenix loses 2 games, or any of those teams–eyes on Portland–do better than 4-4, things get dicey.

Orlando Magic 109, Indiana Pacers 120

We were rooting for: Indiana Pacers

The Pacers are pulling away in the race for NBA bubble darlings; they’re now 3-0 while missing key players, and TJ Warren has, by my count, 118 points in those three games. I don’t know how much noise they’re capable of making in the playoffs, but the ride so far has been fun.

Orlando’s loss impacts the 7/8 race as discussed above.

Boston Celtics 106, Miami Heat 112

We were rooting for: Miami Heat

The race for 3rd between these two was discussed in-depth above, so I’ll just pause for a moment here to say that this was a phenomenal bubble game, and Miami winning this one without Jimmy Butler is impressive.

Houston Rockets 102, Portland Trail Blazers 110

We were rooting for: Portland Trail Blazers

Portland came through last night in a game that was really a joy to watch, and now are 2-1 in the bubble. If they finish 6-2, they’ll be in the play-in game, while 5-3 likely qualifies them and 4-4 leaves things up to fate. With games left against Denver, the Clippers, Philly, Dallas, and Brooklyn, a 5-3 finish seems attainable if they continue playing well.

Houston’s loss helps slow them down and keep Denver a little safe in 3rd. The Jazz and Thunder haven’t quite fallen enough to insulate Houston from a slide to 6th if they struggle, but I think Houston’s most likely landing spot is now 4th.

Stay tuned in to 213Hoops every day of the NBA’s Orlando Bubble for a new Rooting Interests.

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.

Rooting Interests: The NBA’s August 5th Bubble Games
Lucas Hann