LA Clippers prep for two matchups with potential NBA play-in foes Portland Trail Blazers
Sign up now: Get the biggest sports news in your inbox
LA Clippers guard Darius Garland drives against Milwaukee Bucks centre Jericho Sims in the first half at Fiserv Forum.
PHOTO: REUTERS
LOS ANGELES – The Los Angeles Clippers ride a five-game National Basketball Association (NBA) winning streak into a potential play-in preview on March 31 (April 1 morning, Singapore time), as they welcome the Portland Trail Blazers to Inglewood for the first of two late-season matchups between the teams.
Los Angeles (39-36) moved within striking distance of the Western Conference’s top play-in spot over the last week. They clinched their fifth win in nine days on March 29 with a 127-113 defeat of the hosts Milwaukee Bucks, closing the gap on the seventh-placed Phoenix Suns.
Battling for post-season positioning down the stretch underscores a dramatic turnaround for a Clippers team that had sat at 6-21 on Dec 18.
“The biggest thing is a healthy Kawhi (Leonard),” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said of the mid-season turnaround. Leonard is averaging a team-high 28.2 points per game and his 1.9 steals per game leads a defence that ranks 10th in the league in points allowed (112.5 points per game).
“And then, just the guys we’ve got in the locker room. That’s what I’m most pleased about,” Lue added.
“They could have easily gave up, they could have easily gave in, (but) every single guy in the locker room – including Kobe Brown, Ivica (Zubac) and James (Harden), they played a big part in it as well... sacrificed, no matter what it took to win games.”
The trio of Brown, Zubac and Harden were traded in deals that brought Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson to Los Angeles by way of Indiana, and Darius Garland from Cleveland. Mathurin, Jackson and Garland have played significant roles down the stretch.
The rejuvenated Clippers look to hold off Portland, the team slotted into an opening-round play-in matchup with Los Angeles as the No. 9 seeds.
The Blazers (38-38) are winners in three of four after a 123-88 rout of the visiting Washington Wizards on March 29.
They will try to carry the momentum into Los Angeles, for what Toumani Camara said was a crucial matchup.
“We’re fighting for the eight spot and we play them two more times before the season’s over,” the forward said. “It’s the most important game for us right now, looking at (the schedule).”
The Clippers visit Portland on April 10 in the penultimate date of the regular season for both teams.
Meanwhile, in the highlight of NBA action on March 30, Victor Wembanyama bagged a season-high 41 points and scored the fastest double-double in NBA history as the San Antonio Spurs rolled to a ninth straight victory with a 129-114 blowout of the Chicago Bulls.
He finished the game with 16 rebounds after notching his double-double of 10 points and 10 rebounds just 8min 31sec after he stepped onto the court. REUTERS
