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Clippers vs Rockets Game Preview: On the Road Again
The Clippers will try to get back in the winning column in Houston after a brutal loss in Milwaukee on Monday night.
Game
Information
Where: Toyota Center, Houston, Texas
When: 4:30 PM PT
How to Watch: ESPN, Watch ESPN, Bally Sports SoCal, AM 570
Tickets: For great deals on Clippers tickets, check out Barry’s Tickets!
Projected
Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Terance Mann – Paul George – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Rockets: Fred VanVleet – Jalen Green – Dillon Brooks – Jabari Smith Jr. – Alperen Sengun
Injuries
Clippers: Russell Westbrook Out (Hand)
Rockets: Tari Eason Out (Leg), Steven Adams
Out (Knee)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers
keep seesawing between good wins and horrible losses. The common denominator,
Wolves win aside, has been middling defense. Even in games the Clippers win,
it’s usually just because of their hot offense, not because they’re playing
well-rounded basketball. Over the last 15 games, the Clippers are 9th
in offense. Pretty good. On the other hand, they’re 21st in defense.
There’s no excuse for that with how much defensive talent on the Clippers’
roster, and speaks to their lackadaisical nature as well as some questionable
coaching decisions. The Clippers’ offense will be very good. If they can get
their defense to around 10th (or even around 13th) they
will look a lot better on a consistent basis.
The
Antagonist
The Rockets
were 6-3 to start the season and then 13-9 at the quarter mark of the season,
surpassing expectations that they would be just a mediocre team that would be
on the fringes of the play-in race at best. Since then, they are 14-25, and are
in the exact same spot that people predicted, which is not close to playoff
contention but also ahead of the true bottom feeders in the NBA. The Rockets
actually remain the 7th best defense in the NBA, which is excellent
for a fairly young team. However, they’re 24th in the NBA – and dead
last of any team outside of that horrible tanking tier. Until their offense
gets better, they just won’t be better than an ok team, even if the defense
keeps them competitive in most games.
Notes
Watch for Cam and Amen: The Rockets are unusual in that they’re a young, not-great team that brings two of their three most talented young players off the bench in Cam Whitmore and Amen Thompson (Sengun is their best player now). Whitmore wants to shoot every time down the floor, but he’s an effective scorer with a combination of shooting touch, size and physicality, and athleticism. Thompson is an insane athlete who can’t shoot but is already a tremendous defender as a rookie who plays with insane energy and is a dangerous cutter and offensive rebounder. Those two young, athletic players are the exact guys the Clippers can struggle with at times, so it will be important to see how the Clippers handle them.
Getting Bones
Going: Bones Hyland
hasn’t been bad in the 2.5 games he’s played since unexpectedly rejoining the
rotation. Even though he’s shot 3-14 from the field in that stretch, most of
those misses were in garbage time against the Wizards. He’s taken good care of
the basketball and the Clippers have done well in his minutes. That said, he’s the
most dangerous as a scorer, and if he’s going to be the backup point guard with
Russ out, the Clippers should try to get him going more on offense. He’s a guy
who can be a sparkplug off the bench and give life to a currently moribund
Clippers team, but he needs to be empowered to do so. Hopefully in one of these
games we get a hot Bones performance where he knocks down a few threes and
helps really get the team pumped.
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Clippers vs Rockets Game Preview: On the Road Again
Robert Flom