- The Clippers are crediting continuity for their recent success, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. L.A. has seen several seasons short circuited by injuries, and Greif notes that the current starting five reached a milestone Friday with 265 minutes together, which marks the most of any Clippers lineup since the team acquired Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the summer of 2019. “As a guy who’s been here that whole time and been a starter the whole time, it’s been very frustrating,” Ivica Zubac said. “I thought a lot about my love for the basketball in those four years and I can really tell you, I can say I like this game a lot because I was tested a lot. … It just shows when we’re healthy, we’re a great team.”
- The Clippers and Lakers are rapidly heading in opposite directions as they prepare for Sunday’s showdown, notes Khobi Price of The Orange County Register. Lakers guard D’Angelo Russell has been upgraded to questionable and could return after missing the last three games with a bruised tailbone, tweets Dave McMenamin of ESPN.
After losing their first six games following the acquisition of James Harden, the Clippers have since won 18 of 23, including the last four in a row, to improve their record to 21-12. With the team firing on all cylinders, it hasn’t been lost on Harden that the critics who were decrying his fit in early November have been quiet as of late.
“Fit is great, I knew that from the beginning and it’s one of the reasons why I wanted to be a part of this,” Harden said, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “Obviously it didn’t start off well. It gave people so much to talk about in a negative way, and now those people that were talking are nowhere to be found. Like, literally nowhere to be found. Which, we knew that was going to happen.”
Viewed as a title threat when Kawhi Leonard and Paul George teamed up in Los Angeles in 2019, the Clippers have won just three playoff series in the past four seasons as Leonard and George both dealt with injuries. But with the two forwards healthy this season and Harden bringing a new element to the roster, they’re looking like a legitimate contender again.
Asked by Melissa Rohlin of FOX Sports what winning a championship would mean for his legacy, Harden said it would be “very important.”
“It’s been like that. I always want to give myself a chance to win. I know how very difficult that is,” Harden said. “There’s only one team standing at the end of the year. So, I’ll continue to keep trying to do that.”
Here’s more on the NBA’s two Los Angeles teams:
- Clippers two-way center Moussa Diabate, who was hampered in December by a hip issue, appeared in his first NBA game in over a month on Monday, logging three garbage-time minutes in a victory over Miami. However, it sounds like he won’t play again for a while — the team announced that Diabate, who had six blocks in a G League game on Tuesday, is out due to a metacarpal fracture in his right hand, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. The club has yet to provide a recovery timeline.
- With the Lakers slumping, Mirjam Swanson of The Southern California News Group wonders why the team hasn’t turned to the lineups that were successful last season, including either Jarred Vanderbilt or Rui Hachimura alongside Anthony Davis, LeBron James, Austin Reaves, and D’Angelo Russell. Injuries have been a problem, but the club hasn’t used either of those lineups even when everyone has been available — those two groups have played just three total minutes together in 2023/24, says Swanson.
- While head coach Darvin Ham is clearly facing pressure to turn the Lakers‘ season around, a “high-ranking” team source disputed the idea that he’s on the verge of being fired, according to Sam Amick of The Athletic. Amick adds that assistant Phil Handy is frequently brought up as the possible next man up if the Lakers do eventually decide to make an in-season coaching change.
Celtics head coach Joe Mazzulla and Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue have been named the Coaches of the Month for December, the NBA announced (via Twitter).
Mazzulla, the Eastern Conference winner, led Boston to a 12-2 record last month. The Celtics have the best record in the NBA at 26-7.
While Mazzulla’s group has looked like a championship contender throughout its first 33 games, Lue’s Clippers had a rocky start after trading for James Harden, losing six straight at one point to hold a 3-7 record.
But L.A. has had an impressive turnaround over the past several weeks, going 18-5 over the past 23 games, including an 11-2 record in December. Harden shook off some early rust and has been playing at an extremely high level of late (20.1 PPG, 4.9 RPG, 9.4 APG, 1.4 SPG and 1.2 BPG on .483/.467/.883 shooting over the past 17 contests), and Kawhi Leonard has been dominant on both ends of the court.
According to the NBA (Twitter link), the other nominees in the Eastern Conference were J.B. Bickerstaff, Adrian Griffin, Nick Nurse and Erik Spoelstra, while Mark Daigneault, Chris Finch and Michael Malone were nominated in the West.
- Clippers center Mason Plumlee was active on Monday for the first time since going down with an MCL sprain on November 6, but he didn’t see any action, as Janis Carr of The Orange County Register writes. “He is available, but we still want to make sure we are doing the right thing and making sure that we’re taking the slow (road) and ease him back in,” head coach Tyronn Lue explained. Fellow reserve center Daniel Theis said he hasn’t been told by the coaching staff how his role will be affected by Plumlee’s return.
- With the Clippers healthier this year than in recent seasons, Norman Powell is averaging just 25.6 minutes per game off the bench, his lowest mark since 2018/19. However, the veteran wing says he’s willing to sacrifice some playing time and accept a reduced role if it’s the right move for the team as a whole, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. “This year with the way the team is constructed and the moves that we made, I’ve been taking a step back and not being so upset that my role isn’t going to be where I would like it to be, or where I want it to be or how I view myself, and accepting how the team is built, what the team is looking for and what we have to do to win,” Powell said.
- Kawhi Leonard came back strong from a four-game absence on Monday, contributing 24 points, six rebounds, five assists and four steals in a Clippers win over Miami. Leonard had been sidelined with a left hip contusion. “It’s great to have 2 back in the lineup,” Paul George said, per ESPN’s Ohm Youngmisuk. “He does all the little intangible stuff. It’s just so reliable.” The Clippers have no injuries to report for their matchup with Phoenix on Wednesday, Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times tweets.
Clippers star Kawhi Leonard was back at practice Sunday after missing four games with a bruised left hip, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Coach Tyronn Lue said Leonard was able to participate “fully” in the practice session, but didn’t commit to his availability for tonight’s game against Miami.
“We’ll see tomorrow,” Lue said. “Yeah, we’ll see how he comes out of this, but he is practicing today.”
Leonard’s health is always an issue for the Clippers, and it was encouraging that he was able to appear in the team’s first 27 games before hurting his hip. With Leonard returning to practice, Lue installed some new wrinkles to the offense, according to Turner.
“With Kawhi back, today is a good time to add a couple of things here and there,” Lue said. “But we do have to extend our package offensively, especially when we get down to the end of the season going into the playoffs. You have to be able to lean on some different things. You just can’t do the same thing every single night. And, so, if our pick-and-roll game is not going, we got to be able to do something different. If our post-up game is not going, we got to be able to do something different. If our iso game is not going, we got to be able to do something different. And they understand that. So, now we got to start adding and start getting better offensively.”
There’s more from the Pacific Division:
- Mason Plumlee has been upgraded to questionable on the Clippers‘ injury list for tonight’s game, tweets Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. L.A.’s backup big man has been sidelined since November 6 with an MCL sprain, causing the team to add free agent Daniel Theis to provide depth in the middle.
- Coach Mike Brown made a change to the Kings‘ starting lineup Sunday in Memphis, replacing Kevin Huerter with Chris Duarte, per Chris Biderman of The Sacramento Bee. Huerter, who exited Friday’s game with an injury to his left hand, came off the bench for the first time since being traded to Sacramento in the summer of 2022. He was part of Brown’s first round of substitutions and scored nine points in 17 minutes.
- The Warriors are searching for answers after completing the 2023 portion of their schedule with a 10-point loss to Dallas, per Anthony Slater of The Athletic. It marked the team’s eighth defeat at home, which matches its total from all of last season. Coach Steve Kerr refused to blame the absence of Draymond Green, who remains on indefinite suspension, but said the team lacks the “grit” that it needs to be successful. “We’re not competing through the tough parts of the game,” Kerr said. “There’s an intangible, there’s a feeling, there’s a vibe when you fight, where everyone’s energy is right. We don’t have that right now.”
It’s been three weeks since Mavericks guard Kyrie Irving sustained a heel contusion that has sidelined him ever since, writes Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News. Irving has missed the past 12 games, and he’s doubtful for Saturday’s contest against Golden State.
Doubtful typically means the player won’t suit up, but in Irving’s case, it’s actually an upgrade — he’s been listed as out every previous game since November 8, when the injury occurred. Fellow star guard Luka Doncic, who missed Thursday’s game against the Wolves with left quad soreness, is questionable, Townsend adds.
The Mavs got off to a strong start to the season and are still 18-14, but they’re just 2-5 over their past seven games, Townsend notes, and getting whole again would be a welcome sight for the team, especially with Doncic carrying such a heavy workload this month.
“We still have some injuries, so we’ve got to keep it together,” Doncic said. “Everybody’s got to stay together and keep the next-man-up mentality.”
Here are some more injury notes from around the NBA:
- The Rockets were down two starters — Dillon Brooks (oblique) and Jabari Smith (left ankle sprain) — on Friday against Philadelphia, and head coach Ime Udoka was vague in describing a possible return timeline for the two forwards, per Jonathan Feigen of The Houston Chronicle. “Not exact dates, but hopefully it is a shorter-term thing, two or three games possibly,” Udoka said. “Don’t want to give exact. About a week or so.” However, Udoka added that oblique injuries “can be tricky” to recover from, so Brooks’ timeline is particularly hazy.
- Spurs big man Victor Wembanyama, the No. 1 overall pick of this year’s draft, will be on a minutes restriction for a couple weeks until he undergoes another MRI, head coach Gregg Popovich told reporters, including Andrew Lopez of ESPN. Wembanyama suffered a right ankle sprain when he stepped on a ball boy’s foot during warmups last Saturday against Dallas.
- Head coach Tyronn Lue previously stated that Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard practiced for “a little bit” on Thursday, but he clarified on Friday that Leonard had a post-practice workout and hasn’t been cleared to resume practicing, according to Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter links). Lue added that Leonard aggravated an old hip contusion that he sustained earlier this month and had played through. He missed his fourth straight game on Friday.
- Kings sharpshooter Kevin Huerter suffered a left hand injury in the first half of Friday’s game vs. Atlanta and was later ruled out, tweets James Ham of TheKingsBeat.com. It’s unclear if the injury is related to the left finger sprain that caused Huerter to miss his lone game of the 2023/24 season back in November.
According to Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue, star wing Kawhi Leonard practiced for “a little bit” on Thursday, per Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times (Twitter link). Leonard, 32, has been inactive for the Clippers’ last three games due to a hip injury, and is considered questionable against the Grizzlies Friday night.
When healthy, Leonard has looked like his All-Star self this season. The two-time Finals MVP is averaging 24.4 points per game on .521/.429/.877 shooting, along with 5.9 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.7 blocks per night.
There’s more out of the City of Angels:
- Clippers star point guard James Harden is maintaining an approach of consistent, positive communication on the floor, writes Janis Carr of The Orange County Register. “You see after practice James is grabbing six guys every day and just going through pick-and-roll drills, how he wants the bigs to screen it,” Lue said. Carr notes that Harden’s two-man game with starting center Ivica Zubac is also doing well. “I don’t think there was one point where it clicked,” Zubac said. “We do it a lot at the facility and we do it a lot in the games and all that repetition game after game helps and we’re still not there yet. He still gets mad at me sometimes when I slip out or if I don’t flip a pick. I still sometimes don’t know what he wants so there’s still a lot of room for improvement, but with repetition and with games it’s going to get better.”
- In a Thursday blowout win over the Hornets, second-year Lakers shooting guard Max Christie earned rotation minutes for the first time since December 15, observes Jovan Buha of The Athletic (Twitter link). Christie made an instant impact on both ends of the floor, scoring 10 points while making 3-of-4 field goals and 2-of-2 free throws. He also chipped in seven rebounds, three assists, two blocks and a steal while registering a +18 during his 24 minutes of action. Though 12 of those 24 minutes happened during a garbage time fourth quarter, Christie was also a key contributor during the 12 meaningful rotation minutes he logged.
- After helping propel his team to a 133-112 demolition of the Hornets, Lakers star center Anthony Davis discussed the club’s intriguing versatility and mentioned that he believes the team’s recent starting lineup will stick, per Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. Head coach Darvin Ham is currently starting LeBron James at point guard, Taurean Prince at shooting guard, Cam Reddish at small forward (he was injured Thursday), Jarred Vanderbilt at power forward, and Davis at center. “I think that’s going to be the lineup,” Davis said. “And that first group — me, Bron, TP [Prince], Cam, Vando — we just got to keep logging minutes and keep figuring it out, especially on the defensive end. We’re all five defensive-minded players and we like playing defense so we’ll keep figuring out these schemes and how we can be better, and then, offensively, we’ll just figure it out.”
The Warriors have a specific lineup issue that’s impacting both this year’s outlook and the future prospects of the team, writes Tim Kawakami of The Athletic. Golden State has to determine whether Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga — the team’s two most athletic players, in Kawakami’s view — can share the court together, especially with the trade deadline looming.
Kawakami writes that if Wiggins and Kuminga figure out how to play with one another, it would unlock the Warriors’ offense due to the fact that the two forwards make Golden State faster and more athletic. So far, that pairing hasn’t had much success.
In 106 minutes together on the floor this year, the duo has a minus-21.4 net rating, the worst on the team (of lineups that play often) by a large margin. They also have the worst defensive rating and rebound percentage among those lineups.
“It’s something we will try with maybe some new people around them,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “Their numbers are not good together, frankly. They’re very redundant. So the tape and the numbers haven’t been great.”
While this lineup wrinkle is just one question for a roster full of them, it has major implications. If the pair doesn’t figure things out, Kawakami writes the Warriors will likely have to choose between them, especially with Kuminga due for an extension on the horizon. If they do end up working well together, however, it could phase out minutes for Golden State’s other veteran pieces.
Kawakami also writes that while the Warriors previously may have been reluctant to move Wiggins in a trade after he signed a bargain contract specifically to stay with the team, he hears that may no longer be the case.
We have more from around the Pacific Division:
- The Warriors are keeping quiet on the timetable for Draymond Green‘s return from his indefinite suspension, writes Jon Schultz of the San Francisco Chronicle. “The Draymond stuff, everything is just private,” Kerr said. “That’s behind the scenes and I really don’t have anything to comment on that front.“
- The Lakers switched up their starting lineup on Saturday, replacing D’Angelo Russell with Jarred Vanderbilt in an effort to augment the defense. However, that hasn’t worked out just yet, with the new starting lineup posting a 125.0 defensive rating in their 18 minutes together, The Orange County Register’s Khobi Price writes. “We’ve just gotta buckle down defensively,” Anthony Davis said. “We’re not really a switching team but now we’re getting to it because of our lineup. We’re able to do that. Miscommunication is kind of there. Offensively, we can be fine. But we have to do a better job on defense.“
- The Clippers acquired Daniel Theis to help address their frontcourt when Mason Plumlee went down with an MCL sprain in November. As Plumlee approaches his return to play, the Clippers haven’t yet determined how they’ll balance Theis and Plumlee when both are healthy, tweets Andrew Greif of the Los Angeles Times.
Clippers center Mason Plumlee is making progress in his recovery from the knee injury that has sidelined him since November 6, head coach Tyronn Lue said over the weekend. As Janis Carr of The Orange County Register relays, Plumlee has played “a little 1-on-1” and has taken part in limited 3-on-3 drills as he inches closer to a return, which is expected to come next month.
“He’s feeling pretty good,” Lue said. “Still has a couple of boxes to check before he gets back on the floor, but he’s trending in the right direction. The last couple of workouts he’s had (there hasn’t been any) pain in his knee so it’s feeling pretty good.”
While Plumlee acknowledged that he’s very eager to get back on the court, he suggested that the Clippers’ recent nine-game winning streak helped alleviate his anxiousness.
“It was hard to watch at first when they were losing, but it became a joy to watch them,” the big man said. “You always want to play, but it was good to see the team turn the corner. James (Harden) looks so good playing with everybody now.”
Here’s more from around the Pacific:
- After missing the past two games – both Clippers losses – due to a hip contusion, star forward Kawhi Leonard is considered questionable to return on Tuesday vs. Charlotte, tweets Andrew Greif of The Los Angeles Times. Leonard was also listed as questionable before the previous two games, so it remains possible that he’ll miss additional time.
- The sample size is tiny, but the Lakers‘ new starting lineup – featuring Jarred Vanderbilt in place of D’Angelo Russell – hasn’t gotten off to a good start. The five-man group has a 105.0 offensive rating and a 125.0 defensive rating, which would both rank dead last in the NBA, per Jovan Buha of The Athletic. Buha notes that the competition (Oklahoma City and Boston) has been tough and the lineup has played only 18 minutes so far, but says the group doesn’t make sense together and doesn’t look competent on either end of the floor, arguing that the team needs to make another change.
- While Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has said he doesn’t want to play Andrew Wiggins and Jonathan Kuminga together, he may have to rethink that approach in order to maximize both players, writes Marcus Thompson II of The Athletic. Thompson also explores Golden State’s rotation, wondering if the team might actually have too much depth to get regular minutes for all the players who deserve them once Draymond Green and Gary Payton II return.