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Clippers vs Warriors Preview: Getting Past Steph The Clippers have won five games in a row and will now face a familiar foe in Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors. Game Information Where: Crypto.com Arena, Los Angeles, California
When: 7:30 PM PT
How to Watch: NBA TV, AM 570 Projected Starting Lineups Warriors: Steph Curry – Klay Thompson – Andrew Wiggins – Jonathan Kuminga – Kevon Looney
Clippers: James Harden – Norm Powell – Kawhi Leonard – Terance Mann – Ivica Zubac Injuries Warriors: Draymond Green Out(Suspension), Gary Payton II Out (Calf)
Clippers: Paul George Questionable (Groin), Mason Plumlee Out (Knee), Moussa Diabate Out (Hip) The Big Picture The Clippers’ five game win streak has them in the 7th seed and just a hair back of the Kings at 5th. They are coming off a dominant win against the Kings at home, and seem to have really figured things out over the past couple of weeks, especially on offense. Kawhi Leonard has been dominant, scoring at least 30 points in each of the past three games and doing so on insane efficiency. Now, the Kings, Blazers, and Jazz are all not great defensive teams, but still, he’s getting wherever he wants, whenever he wants. He might have to shoulder even more of the load if Paul George is out with injury. The Antagonist The Warriors are in a bad way, sitting at three games under .500 in 11th in the West and now facing an indefinite Draymond Green suspension after the mercurial forward karate chopped Jusuf Nurkic. Green has been good when he has played, which is more than can be said of fellow veterans Klay Thompson (bad) and Andrew Wiggins (horrible). Oddly, the Warriors’ bench, which was supposed to be their weakness, has been quite good, with Dario Saric and Chris Paul having strong seasons and Brandin Podziemski impressing in his rookie year. But, as always, Steph Curry is the main threat, as he’s still good enough to win any game on his own. Notes Next Man Up: If Paul George doesn’t play, Norm Powell will likely fill his spot in the starting lineup, as he did in the 2nd half against the Kings. Norm can do a lot of what PG does on offense, just not as well, but the lack of playmaking should be papered over by Harden (and increased Russ minutes, presumably). What will be interesting is who takes Norm’s spot on the bench. Positionally, Amir Coffey or Brandon Boston Jr. makes sense, but it’s also possible Bones Hyland gets a crack at it. Whoever it is, they will need to be ready to go, because the Warriors’ bench is good and feisty.
Mann Heating Up: After being ice cold to start the year, Terance Mann is starting to find the range on offense. He’s shooting 5-12 from three over the past three games, or just over 40%. If anything, I’d love the volume to be higher, as he’s played around 30 minutes in each of those games, but there are a lot of mouths to feed in the starting unit so it makes sense Terance isn’t getting a ton of shots up. Terance’s shooting was one of the last pieces to unlocking the Clippers’ starting unit, and hopefully his shooting continues to normalize after that icy opening. More importantly, I hope he continues to let it fly from deep. Clippers vs Warriors Preview: Getting Past Steph
Robert Flom
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