The Los Angeles Clippers will put their eight-game home winning streak on the line when they face the road-weary Portland Trail Blazers on Tuesday in the finale of NBA Cup group play in Inglewood, Calif.
Neither team enters the night eliminated from advancing to the knockout round of the tournament, but each would be finished with a loss. The winner still would need help in multiple scenarios in order to move on as a wild-card team.
The Clippers dropped their first four home games of the season at their new $2 billion arena, but after finally breaking through there on Nov. 4, they have not lost since.
Los Angeles’ most recent home success came Sunday in a 126-122 victory over the Denver Nuggets, when James Harden produced 39 points, 11 assists and nine rebounds.
Harden became the second player in NBA history to make 3,000 baskets from 3-point range. The milestone came as he went 6 of 15 from long distance.
“None of those accomplishments we take for granted,” Harden said. “You know, just the amount of work that I’ll put in, countless days and nights where I’ll put the work in and a lot of people don’t see it, but the results happen. (I’m) just thankful.”
Harden is shooting 44.7 percent from the floor over his most recent four games, an improvement over his 38.5 percent mark on the season.
“(Harden) hasn’t shot the ball like he’s accustomed to shooting, but that’s coming along,” Los Angeles coach Tyronn Lue said.
The Clippers’ victory also marked the return of Norman Powell from a hamstring strain after a six-game absence. The shooting guard scored 28 points to boost his team-leading total to 23.6 per game.
Ivica Zubac leads the Clippers with 12.4 rebounds after he hauled in eight against the Nuggets.
The Trail Blazers are coming off a 137-131 home loss to the Dallas Mavericks on Sunday. Anfernee Simons scored 27 points for Portland while Shaedon Sharpe added 22. Simons was 9 of 11 from the floor and 6 of 8 from 3-point range.
Portland’s defense allowed Dallas to score at least 36 points in each of the last three quarters. The Blazers managed to shoot 58.1 percent from 3-point range (18 of 31) but committed 21 turnovers that the Mavericks turned into 33 points.
In the first half, Simons scored just three points, but he had 24 in the third quarter alone after 5-of-6 shooting from 3-point range in the period.
“We started a little sloppy in the beginning (with) a couple of coverages we weren’t locked in on,” Simons said, according to the Oregonian. “But we were still in the game at halftime, withstood everything and gave us a chance to win the game. That’s all you could ask for.”
Portland’s road woes have dragged on nearly a month. The Blazers lost four of five games on a road trip that ended the day before Thanksgiving and have dropped six of their past seven games away from Portland since Nov. 7.
Sharpe leads Portland with an average of 18.0 points per game while Simons is contributing 17.3 points per contest. Deandre Ayton leads the Blazers with 10.3 rebounds per game.
–Field Level Media
