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Clippers vs Spurs Preview: The Final Playoff Push
The Clippers begin their last stretch of the regular season with a game against a Spurs team that is priming up for next year, not this one.
Game
Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Spurs: Chris Paul – Stephon Castle – Devin Vassell – Harrison Barnes – Bismack Biyombo
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Spurs: Victor Wembanyama Out (Blood Clot), De’Aaron Fox Out (Finger), Jeremy Sochan Out (Back), Riley Minix Out (Shoulder)
Clippers: Kawhi Leonard Questionable (Knee), Amir Coffey Out (Hamstring)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers
have gone 14-3 in their last 17 games, pushing them from just over .500 at the
60-game mark to a team that could win 50 contests this year. That push has
carried them up the standings, as they now sit in 5th in the West.
However, that spot is incredibly precarious, with an insane four teams holding
a record of 46-32 and the Nuggets sitting slightly above at 47-32. If the
Clippers can win out (or close to it) the rest of the year, they will make the playoffs
proper in some fashion. If not, the play-in looms. First, they need to grab a
win against the lottery-bound Spurs.
The
Antagonist
The Spurs
have had a bit of an odd season. They looked like they were going to well
exceed expectations early on, as they were in the postseason race for much of
the early part of the season before slumping in the middle of the season. At
the trade deadline, the Spurs moved a lot of assets for Kings guard De’Aaron Fox
to help them make a postseason push. Then, right after the All Star Break,
superstar wunderkind Victor Wembanyama was ruled out for the rest of the year
with deep vein thrombosis in his shoulder, and the Spurs predictably collapsed
from there. Add in a stroke to long-time head coach Gregg Popovich early in the
season (which he is still out from – and may never come back from) and you have
a bizarre year. The Spurs were formally eliminated from the postseason a couple
days ago, but that’s been a foregone conclusion since Wemby went down. Still,
the Spurs are continuing to play their key players big minutes and have won a
handful of games recently. This might well be the Clippers’ last chance to beat
up on a Wemby-less Spurs team for a long time.
Notes
Does Kawhi Play or No: Kawhi played in his first back-to-back of the season against the Mavericks and looked great in doing so. He has been listed as questionable for this one, the first game of a back-to-back with the second game against Houston. While the Spurs aren’t great, they are at home and still have a bunch of key players involved – no Kawhi at least moves the game from surefire win to “probable”. The Houston game is interesting, as the Rockets are very good, but if things break right for them on Tuesday they might have the 2 seed locked up and be prepared to start resting players their last three games. I would guess Kawhi plays on both legs of the trip just to give the Clippers the best chance of winning, but him sitting out against the Spurs makes sense and it’s a game the Clippers really should win without him.
Clippers vs Spurs Preview: The Final Playoff Push
Robert Flom