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LOS ANGELES — Congratulations, Clippers. You’ve made it one-third of the mode done the NBA docket and unlocked a caller level: Hard.
Short-handed again Saturday, they needed immoderate “Big Government” assistance from the aptly nicknamed Reggie Jackson, who dug heavy to bail retired his teammates by scoring oregon assisting connected 11 of his team’s last 12 points — including hitting the game-winning step-back to sneak past the floundering Orlando Magic, 106-104.
It was the Clippers’ 3rd consecutive triumph and improved their grounds to 15-12. That’s commendable, if lone considering they’ve had players miss a combined 104 games already — more than immoderate different successful the league, per spotrac.com, and that 1 of those players has been their biggest prima (Kawhi Leonard is retired indefinitely arsenic his surgically repaired ACL heals).
Throw successful a brace of five-in-seven-game sets to an unrelenting game-every-other-day NBA docket and it starts to consciousness arsenic though the squad ought to person earned an endurance badge.
What they get is the Phoenix Suns and Utah Jazz.
The Clippers volition play consecutive games against 2 of the league’s top-tier teams, starting with Monday’s matchup against the Suns (an NBA-best 21-4) astatine Staples Center and past Wednesday’s crippled astatine Utah (19-7).
It’ll beryllium the archetypal gathering against either squad, some of which the Clippers met past postseason successful their historical archetypal trek to the Western Conference finals. In the 2nd round, Coach Tyronn Lue led the Clippers backmost from down 0-2 and the nonaccomplishment of Leonard to decision the Jazz successful six games earlier they succumbed to the Suns, sans Leonard, successful the league finals, besides successful six.
Now, these adjacent 2 opponents are thing of a harbinger: The remainder of the Clippers’ docket figures to beryllium 1 of the toughest facing immoderate squad — and, according to tankathon.com, the toughest. They’ll person 4 games to spell against Phoenix, 3 against the Jazz, 2 much against the Golden State Warriors (21-5) and 2 apiece against the Brooklyn Nets and Milwaukee Bucks, who are 17-19 and 18-8 respectively entering play Sunday.
Phoenix didn’t suffer astatine each successful November and has dropped lone 1 crippled since Oct. 27 — to the Warriors, connected the road.
After beating Boston handily Friday, the Suns volition person had the afloat play to hole for the Clippers — inactive not arsenic long, however, arsenic the Jazz. Utah gets a three-day interruption betwixt its triumph implicit Washington connected Saturday and tip-off Wednesday, erstwhile they big the Clippers astatine Vivint Arena, wherever they were 31-5 past regular season.
These adjacent contests would beryllium a situation for the Clippers adjacent if Paul George and Nicolas Batum were assured to beryllium successful the lineup, and arsenic of Sunday morning, that wasn’t the case. George has missed 2 consecutive games with an ailing close shooting elbow and Batum skipped Saturday’s triumph aft rolling his close ankle Wednesday, successful his archetypal crippled backmost from a few-week hiatus owed to COVID-19.
With oregon without those to integral players, the Clippers volition beryllium tasked with trying to lick teams that fertile successful the apical 5 successful the league successful conscionable astir each notable violative category:
Take field-goal percentage: Utah is shooting 48.1% (first successful the NBA) and Phoenix 47.7% (second).
The Jazz mean 115.3 points per crippled (second) and the Suns are putting up 111.4 points (fifth).
Utah is shooting 37.2% from 3-point scope (third); Phoenix is 36.9% from heavy (fourth).
And truthful it adds up that the Jazz person outscored opponents by a expansive full of 290 points this play (second-most) and the Suns by 174 (third).
But arsenic the adage goes, you tin instrumentality lone 1 wound astatine a time, and truthful the Clippers players hadn’t adjacent looked up Saturday afternoon, Terance Mann said, noting that helium and his teammates had bitten disconnected each they could chew with the Magic.
“We haven’t talked astir it oregon looked that mode yet. We were benignant of conscionable focused connected today’s game,” helium said, cognizant inactive of the situation looming Monday with their matchup with past season’s NBA Finalists. “But they’re a large team. … They’re feeding disconnected their tally past year, they’re inactive going, they’re inactive hot, truthful we’re conscionable gonna person to beryllium locked successful connected the gameplan and bash what we gotta do.”
And what the Clippers bash — what they’ve done truthful acold — is bought into the conception of competitory adaptation.
“We got a radical of guys who tin bash it and they’re excited astir doing it,” said Mann, the third-year helping who has started the past 2 games and played conscionable astir each presumption connected the tribunal passim the season.
“We’ve built a civilization present wherever radical cognize that they’re going to person to play antithetic positions and, night-in, night-out, you ne'er cognize what’s going to hap conscionable due to the fact that we’ve got truthful galore moving pieces and injuries and stuff. People are prepared for that going into games, truthful that’s the mentality.”
It’s a mindset cultivated by Lue and 1 that isn’t mislaid connected Suns Coach Monty Williams, who told reporters: “He’s had his hands afloat with injuries and been capable to not lone support them afloat, but they’re 1 of the champion teams successful the league erstwhile you look astatine them apical to bottom. … He utilizes his squad astir arsenic bully arsenic anybody.”
SUNS (21-4) astatine CLIPPERS (15-12)
When: Monday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Staples Center
TV: Bally Sports SoCal, NBA TV
Monty Williams breaks down #Clippers heading into Monday's crippled successful the archetypal gathering since the Western Conference Finals #Suns won successful six. pic.twitter.com/kBfccVLC5G
— Duane Rankin (@DuaneRankin) December 11, 2021
English (US) ·