213hoops.com
Clippers vs Nets Preview: Getting the Easy Win
The Clippers will try to get another win at home against the tanking Nets.
Game
Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Nets: Ben Simmons – Keon Johnson – Ziaire Williams – Noah Clowney – Nic Claxton
Clippers: James Harden – Norman Powell – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Nets: Cam Johnson Questionable (Ankle), D’Angelo Russell Questionable (Shin), Ben Simmons Questionable (Back), Nic Claxton Questionable (Hamstring), Cam Thomas Doubtful (Hamstring), Trendon Watford Doubtful (Hamstring), Bojan Bogdanovic Out (Foot), Max Lewis Out (Leg)
Clippers: Kobe Brown Out (G-League), Kai Jones Out (G-League), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers’ win on Monday combined with the Lakers loss pushed the Clippers back into 6th in the Western Conference – at least temporarily. The West is as crowded as ever, with the Clippers just three games back of the 3rd place Grizzlies but also just two games ahead of the 11th place Spurs. The victory over a short-handed Heat team was not particularly impressive, but the Clippers’ defense the last three quarters of the game was pretty good, and the process on offensive was much better. If the Clippers, especially Derrick Jones Jr., Kris Dunn, and Nic Batum, can start hitting more of their open shots, they will look a lot better. Hopefully those players’ shooting slumps are close to ending their course.
The
Antagonist
As you can
probably guess by the above injury report, the Nets are in full “Capture the
Flagg” mode in pursuit of a top draft pick in the loaded 2025 NBA Draft. Some
of their players are legitimately injured, while some are maybe dinged up but
being held out because the Nets were winning too many games. The Nets are just
13-26, but had a much better record about a month ago, before they traded away
Dennis Schroder and Dorian Finney-Smith and started sitting guys out. They have
lost five games in a row, and are dedicated to losing. If they actually played
their full roster they wouldn’t be bad – there’s a lot of talent on that injury
report – but it seems unlikely they will play their best players much the rest
of this season if they even “survive” the trade deadline. It’s going to be a
free-fall to the bottom for the Nets, who are probably hoping to not even get
to 20 wins by the end of the season.
Notes
Get the Win: This is a truly must win game for the Clippers. They are at home, basically healthy, against a tanking team playing on the second night of a back-to-back. This is about as friendly a schedule game as there is, and in this competitive Western Conference every single win matters. Even if it’s ugly, the Clippers have to get the victory in this one. Hopefully they can push the tired Nets to a blowout, but they can’t be complacent. Even if the Nets organization wants to tank, the players on the court are trying to win and are playing for future deals. The Nets won’t just lay over and die, the Clippers will have to make the effort to win. Hopefully they do just that, and this is an easy victory.
Return of Keon Johnson: The Clippers selected Keon Johnson as the 21st pick in the 2021 Draft – their highest pick since 2018 when they took Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Jerome Robinson at 11 and 13. They moved him in the Norman Powell and Robert Covington trade, but he was only on the Blazers for another year and a half before being moved to the Suns. He’s finally ended up on the Nets, and has played in almost every game for Brooklyn this year. Unfortunately… he’s still not very good. Keon is scoring 8.4 points and grabbing 3.4 rebounds per game, not bad production in 21.5 minutes. However, he’s shooting just 36.1% from the field and 30.3% from three (43.7% from two), for an ugly 46.9 True Shooting. Keon only turns 23 in March, so he still has time to turn his career around, but he has not been good at much so far in his career outside of some exciting plays now and then. Things can still change, but it looks like a very smart move by the Clippers to pivot off Keon early while he still had value.