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Clippers vs Mavericks Preview: Them Again
The Clippers will square off once more against the Mavericks, who they beat Thursday night on the road in Dallas.
Game
Information
Where: American Airlines Center, Dallas, Texas
When: 5:30 PM PT
How to Watch: KTLA, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac
Mavericks: Kyrie Irving – Quentin Grimes – Klay Thompson – PJ Washington – Dereck Lively II
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Terance Mann Out (Finger), Kobe Brown Out (Back), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Mavericks: Luka Doncic Out (Heel), Hardy Out (Ankle), Dante Exum Out (Wrist), Brandon Williams Out (Thumb)
Notes
Baseball Series: The Clippers have one of these baseball series earlier this season, against the Rockets, and it did not go well. The Clippers have already done better than they did against Houston by winning the first game of this mini-series. However, it’s always tough to beat a team twice in short succession, and the Mavs will have a big shift for this one due to Kyrie Irving being available. Despite being competitive on Thursday, the Mavs just never had the firepower to get over the hump in the second half. Well, Kyrie is a unique kind of firepower on his own, so the Mavs will have a much stronger unit tonight. Even with Luka out, the Clippers had better be ready, because the Mavs will want some payback.
Shortened Rotation: Ty Lue somewhat unexpectedly trimmed his rotation on Thursday, with Jordan Miller not appearing until garbage time and Bones Hyland not playing at all. Thus, the Clippers were down to just nine players in the rotation, which has been unusual this year. There are two likely reasons why Ty did this. The first is that Kawhi Leonard is close to returning, which means the Clippers were going to have to cut the minutes of a number of players anyway. Second, and what I really hope is not the reason, is that Jordan had a couple bad performances in a row before Thursday. I hope that’s not the case because Ty has stuck with Kevin Porter Jr. all season despite him being mostly awful, and I hate when coaches play favorites like that. It’s probably a combination of both, but it was sad to see Jordan out of the rotation again. Still, it’s exciting to think that Kawhi’s return is, finally, imminent.