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Clippers vs Suns Preview: Another Big Game
The Clippers will be starting a semi-lengthy road trip with a visit to the division rival Phoenix Suns.
Game
Information
Where: Footprint Center, Phoenix, Arizona
When: 6:30 PM PT
How to Watch: NBA TV, FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Derrick Jones Jr. – Kawhi Leonard – Ivica Zubac
Suns: Tyus Jones – Devin Booker – Bradley Beal – Kevin Durant – Nick Richards
Injuries
Clippers: Kris Dunn Out (Knee), Jordan Miller Out (Illness), Cam Christie Out (Ankle), Kai Jones Out (G-League), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team)
Suns: Ryan Dunn Out (Ankle), TyTy Washington Out (G-League), Jalen Bridges Out (G-League)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers got one of their best wins of the season Saturday night at home against the Bucks. James Harden had one of his finest performances as a Clipper, Norm Powell exploded in the second half, Ivica Zubac did yeoman’s work all game, Kawhi Leonard had flashes of dominance, and the rest of the team chipped in with the little things. The defense wasn’t amazing, but it was solid, and the offense was as good as we’ve seen it for most of this season, largely because of Harden and Norm. The Clippers wrapped up an overall successful homestand, and now head out on the road, where they have been much less effective. With the Clips mostly healthy outside of Kris Dunn (whose injury does not appear serious), now would be a great time to see winning translate outside of the Intuit Dome.
The
Antagonist
The Suns have turned things around in the past few weeks, rising from 12th to 8th in the West and putting them within striking distance of a top-six seed. The Suns’ resurgence is due to a few factors. First, Kevin Durant and Devin Booker have been able to get and stay healthy. Second, the Suns’ trade for Nick Richards has paid immediate dividends in bolstering their center rotation. Lastly, and relatedly, the Suns have exiled Jusuf Nurkic from the rotation and limited Mason Plumlee to minimal minutes. The Suns are still not great – most indicators have them as being just a decent team – but they are at least competent now. On any given night, they are quite dangerous due to the sheer firepower of Durant and Booker, but they are also still weak defensively on the perimeter and in minutes Richards is not playing. If they can make any other moves to bolster their rotation (not even Jimmy Butler, but just better-fitting role players) they could make some noise, but for right now they are still on the fringes.
Notes
Big Game: While the Lakers game last week remains the most important game of the season to this point, this Suns game is not far behind. The Clippers have already fallen twice to the Suns, so if they lose this one they will definitively have lost the season series, which is important for tiebreaker purposes. The Suns are also a division (and obviously conference) opponent, both of which have further tiebreaker importance. But, most of all, the Suns are somewhat surprisingly just two losses back of the Clippers, and if they win this one, will be just 1.5 games back of the Clippers despite the narratives about the Clippers have a great season and the Suns a terrible one. It’s a very important contest for both teams, so I’d expect heavy minutes for key players and high levels of energy and effort. Hopefully it’s a good game.
Attacking the Suns: The Suns are a pretty good offensive team (11th) but are quite bad on defense (23rd); they have the worst defense of any NBA team with a record above .500. The Suns are middling on the defensive glass (16th), don’t force turnovers (22nd in steals), and allow a lot of points off turnovers (8th). The Clippers should be able to generate points relatively easily against the Suns, even with the Richards upgrade at the center spot. While Richards is a capable-enough big man, Ivica Zubac is still much better on both ends, and the Clippers should be able to go through Zu, both in the post and pick and roll, to great effect. If need be, getting Harden switches onto Phoenix’s lesser point of attack defenders – Tyus Jones, Grayson Allen, and Monte Morris – should also result in easy looks. As always, the Clippers can’t settle for ISO-ball and jumpers, as that plays right into the Suns’ hands. Keep attacking, and free throws and open looks should result.