The Clippers picked up a win over the league-leading Jazz Friday night as L.A.’s starting lineup was together for the first time since January 24, writes Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Nicolas Batum all returned from injuries, with George and Batum playing under minutes restrictions. George scored 15 points in 27 minutes after missing the past seven games with swelling in a toe on his right foot.
“Got to get back to that basketball conditioning and get that wind back to where it was,” George said. “As much as I would’ve loved to play, I probably would’ve hurt the team being on the floor past the minutes I played.”
Leonard, who had been dealing with a contusion in his lower left leg, wore a compression sleeve with padding underneath his knee as he logged 38 minutes. Batum was back on the court after missing two games with a concussion.
“We’re all pros, I think that starting lineup all played 10-plus years so that’s how we can sort of get a rhythm early,” Leonard said. “But it takes time, you haven’t seen those bodies on the floor. Obviously, playing with me and PG is a lot different. We might isolate sometimes or take some tough shots so it’s just all that combined. And that’s why we got to keep playing and staying healthy.”
There’s more from Los Angeles:
- Luke Kennard was replaced in the rotation Friday by Terance Mann, notes Law Murray of The Athletic, who adds that Mann earned more playing time with his performance while George was sidelined.
- Lakers guard Dennis Schröder, who is in the NBA’s health and safety protocol, tested negative for COVID-19 but will have to quarantine for at least a week, according to Dave McMenamin of ESPN. Coach Frank Vogel offered an update on Schröder before tonight’s game, saying the team hopes to have him back for Friday’s contest against the Trail Blazers. Wesley Matthews started tonight in Schröder’s place.
- The Lakers face a difficult decision about whether to increase LeBron James‘ playing time while Anthony Davis is injured, writes Kyle Goon of The Orange County Register. L.A. is in a tight race for the top spot in the West, but is concerned about not wearing down James before the playoffs. Goon notes that his minutes have already increased from 31.4 per game in December to 37.7 in February.
Increasing LeBron’s playing time is a terrible idea, if anything they should lessen his load. He turned 36 almost two months ago, and has played an average of 35 minutes in all 30 games so far this season. If anything were to happen to him and he was out for an extended period of time just like AD, the Lakers would be in a heap of trouble.
Except this only happened once and his team wasn’t going anywhere anyway.
Lebron is not much affected by minutes; not as much as having to show up at all, but people gave him a hard time for missing games in 17/18 so he quit doing it.
Saddle up your lead horse Lakers, and Caruso!
Just, refs, if he gets hit on the way to the rim, but does not flinch, it’s because he’s heavy, not unhit.
Gary was righter! There was a certain category of near-FAs signed to huge contracts this offseason, including Kennard, who contrary to my defenses, do look way overpaid. Meanwhile getting Kuzma signed to a moderate $40mil looks like a good move, like him or not.
They don’t need to play Bron. Kuzma and the bench need to step up. They need Schroeder back too. This is a good time to test the bench. Last yr they won cause bench was good. AD will be back. They can hold it down for awhile. Nobody is scared of Jazz in playoffs. Clippers weren’t even healthy and look what they did. Jazz are good but not quite there imo. Bron looks good still. But you do wonder when he will slow down some. He’s a smart player so knows when to turn it on. It’s all about playoffs for him.
LAKERS just need to stay afloat, just enough to get a decent spot in the playoffs ……… a healthy Lebron & AD is all they need once the playoffs start.
Yup, nobody should be that afraid of the JAZZ deep in the playoffs. Similar to the NUGGETS last season, the JAZZ will probably go to the rights of passage first …….. same with most contending teams with a young core.
Bench is doing fine this year
Kuzma is playing the best he ever has, it will probably never be good enough for the masses tho and this echo chamber will probably follow him around till hes out of La at least
Lakers have no rim/paint protection is their number 1, 2 and 3 problems . It seems highly unlikely they can navigate 4 rds in a row as currently constructed even with Ad; who I dont think will be so keen to log heavy mins at the 5 when back
Batum has been great for the Clippers this season. I think quite a few teams had their eye on him at a cheaper price. Hayward has worked out better than could be expected, but I wouldn’t have waived Batum to do it.
Boy I always find confusing when in this site it says L.A. Notes… & then 3/4 of the article is about the Clips, right?
I mean if it says L.A. we all know is gonna be ’bout the Lakers, right?
Maybe it could say Clips notes instead as no one thinks of them when you mention L.A.!!!
They need to edit/re-write the H&P protocols. If someone tests negative, shave it down a number of days or just get a confirmed 2nd test. World knows we have turned a corner.