The Los Angeles Clippers are as healthy as they have been all season, even as their head coach is ailing, and their top form will be tested against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday at Inglewood, Calif.
The Clippers (39-30) have won seven of their last eight games. Kawhi Leonard has appeared to hit his stride, and leading scorer Norman Powell has rejoined the mix following a right hamstring injury.
Even as head coach Tyronn Lue has missed four of the past six games because of back discomfort, the Clippers are establishing themselves as a legitimate threat in the Western Conference.
The most impressive victory during their revival came Tuesday when Los Angeles triumphed 132-119 over the Cleveland Cavaliers, who entered the game with the best record in the NBA. Against Cleveland’s interior defense, Ivica Zubac scored 28 points with 20 rebounds for Los Angeles.
While Zubac delivered his third 20/20 game of the season — on his 28th birthday no less — Leonard matched a season-high with 33 points. Bogdan Bogdanovic, the Clippers’ under-the-radar acquisition at the trade deadline, had 20 points on 8-of-8 shooting.
“For the first time in a while, if not all season, we pretty much had everybody available at our disposal,” said assistant coach Brian Shaw, who has been in charge in Lue’s absence. “It’s tough when we have everybody healthy. We have depth and certain nights it’s going to be different guys.”
Following Paul George’s offseason departure, Powell has stepped up with 23.2 points per game, while Zubac has set career bests with 16.4 points and 12.6 rebounds.
“We need these wins coming down this stretch right now,” Leonard said. “You know, it’s giving you a playoff atmosphere, especially with the crowd being engaged the whole time.”
While the Clippers were seventh in the Western Conference at the start of play Thursday, the Grizzlies (43-27) were sitting fifth after losing three of their past four games. Ja Morant has missed the last three contests with shoulder and hamstring injuries.
Without Morant playing at Portland on Wednesday, the Grizzlies lost 115-99 to the Trail Blazers. They were held to 10 points in the fourth quarter and made just 13 percent of their shot attempts.
Memphis is 0-2 in a season-long five-game road trip and now faces one of the better defenses in the NBA.
“Offensively, we’ve definitely had our struggles,” Grizzlies head coach Taylor Jenkins said before the road trip about facing top defensive teams. “I think we have been trending a little better than where we were at the start of the season.”
Jaren Jackson Jr. was held to 14 points in the game while not scoring in the fourth on 0-of-5 shooting. Jackson’s team-leading 22.4 points per game are slightly better than Morant’s 22.3 points.
Desmond Bane scored 20 points at Portland but was 0 of 4 in the fourth quarter with one point. After missing seven of the last eight games with a calf injury, Santi Aldama returned to score 16 points.
Luke Kennard has started the past three games for Memphis with Morant out and has averaged 8.3 points while making just 1 of 9 shots from 3-point range.
–Field Level Media
