The LA Clippers have won four straight games and they are looking sharp currently. They took care of the The Cleveland Cavaliers in their prior game and Kawhi Leonard is playing like he did a couple of years ago. The Grizzlies are on a two game long losing streak that they would love to snap at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood.
The LA Clippers have found their rhythm on the court in the eleventh hour of the NBA regular season. The Clippers are one of three teams that are fighting for the 6th seed in the Western Conference together with the Golden State Warriors and The Minnesota Timberwolves. The 6th seed means you will avoid the play-in. The stakes are high at the moment. Golden State has 29 lost games. The Clippers 30 and the Timberwolves 31.
The Clippers are at the 7th position in the Western Conference standings at the moment. Their record is 39 wins (and 30 lost games). They own a home record of 24-10 at the Intuit Dome. The Clippers rely heavily on their solid defense and the genius of Kawhi Leonard and James Harden on the offensive end of the floor. The team is very well coached by Tyrone Lou.
The Los Angeles Clippers just defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers, 132-119, at home in the Intuit Dome. Ivica Zubac, the big man from Mostar in Bosnia & Herzegovina, had an awesome game. Zubac, who represents the Croatian national team, scored 28 points and he grabbed 20 rebounds. Zubac had a great defensive performance where he shut down Evam Mobley completely. Leonard had 33 points with four dimes and four steals. James Harden had 22 points and made nine assists.
Bogdan Bogdanovic had a great game off the bench. He played for 29 and a half minutes. Scored 20 points, made seven dimes, had one steal and four rebounds. And by the way, Bogdan didn’t miss a single shot in the game. He made all of his eight shot attempts. Four of them were from behind the arc. Bogdanovic has made the Clippers bench much better since his arrival in Los Angeles on trade deadline day last month. The Clippers have won seven out of their last eight games.
The Grizzlies are coming off two straight losses to the Portland Trail Blazers (99-115) and the Sacramento Kings (122-132). Both games were on the road and this game is the third on the road out of five on this trip for Memphis. The Grizzlies are at the 5th spot in the Western Conference right now. They have a record of 43 wins and 27 losses. Memphis have won 18 games on the road and lost 16.
The Grizzlies have lost three out of their four last games and need to start gaining some momentum in the remainder of the regular season. Jarren Jackson Jr is back from injury but has not been up to his high standard on the floor. They were awful versus the Trail Blazers and Jackson had the worst plus-minus of the team with minus 23. Jarren only made five out of his 18 shot attempts. Desmond Bane was the best scorer for Memphis in Portland with his 20 points.
Ja Morant is a big star in Memphis. The athletic point guard has missed a lot of games over the past two seasons due to injuries and suspensions. This season is no exception to that rule. Usually The Grizzlies are doing well when Morant does not play. As of late that has not been the case. Morant has to be healthy come the post season or the Grizzlies will lose early in the playoffs. The offence has not been up to standards recently for the Grizzlies and they must step it up versus the solid defence of the LA Clippers.
