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Clippers vs Pacers Game Preview: The Road Trip Continues
The Clippers continue their road trip in the Midwest with a game against the Indiana Pacers, one of the mid-tier playoff squads in the Eastern Conference.
Game
Information
Where: Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Indianapolis, Indiana
When: 2:00 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Amir Coffey – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac
Pacers: Tyrese Haliburton – Andrew Nembhard – Aaron Nesmith – Pascal Siakam – Myles Turner
Injuries
Clippers: Norm Powell Questionable (Knee), Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Foot), Jordan Miller Out (G-League) Kai Jones Out (G-League), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Pacers: Isaiah Jackson Out (Achilles), James Johnson Out (Illness)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers got out of the All Star Break on the wrong foot, blowing a relatively big lead to the Bucks with a disastrous 4th quarter. The loss was similar to so many of the Clippers’ other defeats this season, with bad offense in terms of strategy, execution, and results dooming them – along with some inexplicable slippage on defense. The fact that the Clippers just seem to run out of gas on offense late in games on a semi-consistent basis is a worrying one, alluding to their overall lack of firepower and offensive diversity. Of course, it must be said that Norm Powell, the Clippers’ best scorer and shooter this season, did not play against the Bucks, and probably won’t play in the next couple of games either. Norm’s absence is a real excuse, especially on offense, but it doesn’t make the choppy attack and slow, lackadaisical possessions on offense any easier to swallow.
The
Antagonist
The Pacers
have risen to 4th in the East, though they hold a tenuous lead over
the Bucks and Pistons. However, their Net Rating of 0.3 is 16th in
the entire NBA, meaning they’ve “outperformed their coverage”, as it were. The
Pacers hold the 9th best offense and 20th best defense in
the NBA, which makes sense when you look at their personnel and the fact that
they play at the 6th highest pace in the league. The Pacers have
quite a bit of talent, especially now that they’re healthy, and are receiving excellent
seasons from both Pascal Siakam and Tyrese Haliburton, who has course corrected
after an awful start. They’re not really a contender, as they’re a ways behind
the top three in the East, but they are a solid playoff team that can beat
anyone on a given night.
Notes
Slowing Siakam: The Clippers played the Pacers less than three weeks ago, just before the trade deadline, and got thoroughly outplayed by Indiana. The best player in that game was not Tyrese Haliburton, Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, or Norm Powell, but Pascal Siakam, who the Clippers just had no answer for. Pascal scored 33 points on 11-19 shooting, with zero Clippers offering sturdy resistance. With Kawhi Leonard possibly out for this game, I’m not sure what the Clippers’ answer is for Siakam. I think their best bet might actually be putting Zu on him and letting a wing defender take Myles Turner, but Siakam is probably too quick for Zu. As great a defender as Kris Dunn is, he’s extremely undersized for taking on Siakam – so too is Derrick Jones Jr. The Clippers need to do something with Pascal, because if he plays like he did back on February 6, the Clippers are probably going to lose.
Kobe or Drew: It seems relatively likely that Kawhi and Norm will not play in this one, meaning Ty Lue will be down to just 8 of his 10 top rotation players. Coaches rarely go with an eight-man rotation in the regular season, so it stands to reason Ty will add at least one more player to his rotation in this one. The question is whether it will be Kobe Brown or Drew Eubanks. Neither has played much recently, or in Kobe’s case, all year, but they are the next guys up. It is possible that someone unexpected gets the nod, like Patty Mills or MarJon Beauchamp, but neither of them has played rotation minutes at all since becoming Clippers, so I find those options unlikely. To me, Eubanks is the most logical answer, as I think he’s just a better NBA player than Kobe, but the Clippers seem to have committed to non-traditional centers in their second unit, and if they want to keep that trend going, maybe Kobe is the choice.
Clippers vs Pacers Game Preview: The Road Trip Continues
Robert Flom