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The Clippers vs Kings Preview: Biggest Game of the Season So Far
The Clippers have won two games in a row in the friendly confines of Intuit Dome, and now square off against the team directly behind them in the standings, the Sacramento Kings.
Game
Information
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California
When: 6:30 PM PT
How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570
Projected
Starting Lineups
Kings: Keon Ellis – Zach LaVine – DeMar DeRozan – Keegan Murray – Jonas Valanciunas
Clippers: James Harden – Kris Dunn – Kawhi Leonard – Nic Batum – Ivica Zubac
Injuries
Kings: Domantas Sabonis Out (Hamstring), Malik Monk Doubtful (Toe)
Clippers: Norm Powell Out (Hamstring), Ben Simmons Out (Knee)
The Big
Picture
The Clippers have
somewhat put themselves back together, with successive strong wins at home
against the Pistons and Knicks. They have been able to separate themselves a
bit from the teams still trying to get into the play-in race, as they are now back
up to 7 games up on the Spurs, 6.5 up on the Blazers, and 5 up on the Suns.
They’re also 2.5 games (and three losses) ahead of the 10th seed
Mavericks, who are dealing with a million injuries. Unfortunately, the teams
ahead of them in the standings keep winning, and the Clippers are now way too
far behind the Nuggets and Lakers (7 games) to make catching them at all
realistic. The Grizzlies and Rockets are 5 and 4 games ahead of the Clippers, so
the Clippers catching those teams is not quite impossible but quite unlikely. That
puts the realistic ceiling on the Clippers at 6th, with a floor of
11th. One of their main foes for postseason seeding in that play-in
range is….
The
Antagonist
The Kings are 5-2 since the All-Star Break and 8-3 in the past month despite dealing away homegrown star De’Aaron Fox and facing some injuries. That both goes to show the Kings’ depth as well as Fox being quite overrated in this writer’s opinion. The Kings still have a lot of talent, even with Domantas Sabonis and Malik Monk being out – DeMar DeRozan and Zach LaVine are always threats to cook, Valanciunas is a capable starter at center, and Murray and Ellis are competent starting-level role players. Other additions like Jake LaRavia and Markelle Fultz have helped fill minutes as well, giving new coach Doug Christie a true rotation to work with. The Kings are up to 7th in offensive rating while placing solidly at 15th on defense – they are just a good team. At the end of the day, the Kings aren’t going anywhere, even if they lack the high-end upside of some of the other teams in the play-in range.
Notes
New Starting Unit: The Clippers have had quite a few different starting lineups this season around the two cornerstones of James Harden and Ivica Zubac. Norman Powell has missed quite a few games, Kawhi Leonard missed the first half of the season and still isn’t playing back-to-backs, and Ty Lue has cycled through a number of guys both to replace those two as well as to serve as the 5th starter. Friday against the Knicks brought yet another starting unit, as Ty brought in Nic Batum at power forward alongside Harden, Leonard, Zubac, and the seemingly (?) penciled in Kris Dunn. We will see if Ty continues with that starting unit (which I thought was excellent) or if Nico starting was just due to the Knicks’ size on the perimeter. Nic Batum has to play more when the Clippers are serious, and the easiest way to do that is to start him. I don’t love bringing both Bogdan Bogdanovic and Amir Coffey off the bench, but the presence of Derrick Jones Jr. and one of Zu, Dunn, Kawhi, or Nico should be enough to bolster those units on defense. Call me intrigued.
Big Game: The Clippers are a half-game ahead of the Kings, meaning a Clippers’ win would go quite a way towards giving them an edge over Sacramento in the standings. The difference between 8th and 9th in the play-in is significant, with the 8th seed only needing to win one game to make the playoffs, and with a chance to get the 7th seed (and therefore, an easier opponent than the Thunder). It would be nice if the Clippers could climb all the way into the playoffs proper at 6th, but solidifying their spot in at least the upper half of the play-in would be great. This is one of the biggest games of the entire season for each team, and I’d therefore expect to see both teams employ playoff-type rotations.
The Clippers vs Kings Preview: Biggest Game of the Season So Far
Robert Flom