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Clippers vs. Rockets Game Preview: Let’s Do this Again, In-Season Tournament Style
The Clippers will square off against the Rockets again, just two days after they lost to them in Houston. This time, it’s not just any regular season game, it’s an NBA Cup game!
Game Information
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
When: 5:00 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal
Projected Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac
Rockets: Fred VanVleet – Jalen Green – Dillon Brooks – Jabari Smith – Alperen Sengun
Injuries
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), Mo Bamba Out (Knee), PJ Tucker Out (Away From Team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)
Rockets: Steven Adams Questionable (Knee)
Notes
In-Season Tournament: This is the first game of the NBA In-Season Tournament for the Clippers. I was not all that impressed with the tournament last year, finding the games no more or less entertaining than an average regular season game and with obnoxious courts to boot. Now that fans, players, and coaches all know more about the tournament’s rules and saw how it played out last year, I hope that things might be a bit more exciting this time around, but that probably won’t start until later in group play. I wouldn’t expect anything to be different about this game aside from the court being different than usual.
New Starting Lineup: For the first time all season, Ty Lue shook up his starting lineup in the last outing against the Rockets on Wednesday, swapping in Kris Dunn for Terance Mann. The move made sense, as Dunn has been awesome to start the season while Mann has struggled, and Dunn in particular is a better ballhandler who can help relieve some of the pressure on James Harden while also alleviating his faults on defense. The move, by and large, worked. Dunn was the Clippers’ best overall player, scoring 11 points and dishing 8 assists with his usual incredible defense to finish an incredible +11 in 31 minutes, while Mann also got untracked with 14 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocks in 24 minutes off the bench. Ty Lue said this change would for the near-future at least, and I’ll be curious to see how the Clippers continue to adjust to this change.
Bamba Back Soon: Mo Bamba is out for this game, but he should be back very soon, possibly by Sunday. He played in the G-League game yesterday to get some live reps in, and his return to the big club is imminent. It’s not a moment too soon, as Kai Jones has not played the last two games and the Clippers’ ultra-small lineups have predictably struggled with extended use. I am under no illusions about how good Mo is, but the bar to clear Kai Jones and five-guard lineups is on the floor, and hopefully he does pass that minimal test. It will be nice to see him out there, but for one more game we are either going to see small units or Kai running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
Jordan Miller Time?: Kevin Porter Jr. Played just six minutes in the game on Wednesday, all in the first quarter. Ty Lue kept the rotations tight in the 2nd and 3rd periods, and then started the 4th with Jordan Miller out there alongside Dunn, Powell, Mann, and Amir Coffey. Talk about small-ball. Anyway, Miller getting that shot while the game was still in reach (a 6-0 Rockets run almost immediately put it out of reach) was interesting. It’s possible it was just a one-off, as Porter Jr was abysmal in his six minutes. But it is possible that the Clippers will at the very least move off Porter Jr when he’s having a bad game, and Miller seems like the next man up. It would be great if he entered the rotation proper, but I don’t think we are quite there yet. Still, it was great to see him get one of his trademark and-ones as well as nail a wing three.
Clippers vs. Rockets Game Preview: Let’s Do this Again, In-Season Tournament Style
Robert Flom