A Defensive Slugfest in LA • 213hoops.com

The Clippers, fresh off two wins at home, will try to pick up a third consecutive victory, this time without leading scorer Norm Powell against the visiting Orlando Magic.

Game Information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to Watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected Starting Lineups

Magic: Jalen Suggs – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Tristan da Silva – Franz Wagner – Goga Bitadze

Clippers: James Harden – Amir Coffey – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Magic: Paolo Banchero Out (Oblique), Wendell Carter Jr. Questionable (Foot)

Clippers: Norm Powell Out (Hamstring), Kawhi Leonard Out (Knee), PJ Tucker Out (Away from team), Cam Christie Out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers Out (G-League)

The Big Picture

The Clippers’ seesaw continues, as they are now back one game over .500 after a fun win last night against the Warriors. Their defense has bounced back in victories over the Jazz and Warriors, now ranking at 6^th
in the NBA after a brief lapse out of the top 10. Unfortunately, their offense has gone the other direction, placing at 22^n.d. in the league. The Clippers just can’t get both sides of the ball in top-tier form at the same time, and as expected they are leaning more towards a gritty, defense-first type squad. If they keep getting the James Harden of the past two games – fewer turnovers, more downhill drives, fantastic playmaking – they might be able to scrounge enough offense to keep winning. As Harden goes, so does the Clippers’ offense, so hopefully he can continue to improve as we head into the holidays.

The Antagonist

The Magic are 9-6, third in the Eastern Conference, despite missing star Paolo Banchero for most of the season and starting center Wendell Carter Jr. for multiple weeks as well. The Magic are thriving for two reasons. First, their defense is awesome, ranking as second-best in the entire NBA. They are young, lengthy, and physical on the perimeter and are a very solid rebounding team. It’s extremely tough to string together positive offensive possessions against the Magic’s defense. Second, Franz Wagner is making a star breakout in his fourth season, averaging career highs in points (22.9), rebounds (5.5), assists (5), and steals (1.4) while keeping turnovers low (1.9) and scoring at excellent efficiency (57.1 True Shooting). The Magic’s offense is still bad, but Franz’s ability to get buckets and make plays for others is keeping them just afloat for their defense to do the rest. They are a tough out every single game, and Franz is a force going downhill.

notes

Norm Out: The Clippers announced yesterday that Norm Powell would miss today’s game with a hamstring strain. Norm is the Clippers’ leading scorer this year and first in threes made by a mile – their already below average offense and shooting will take a big hit as a result of his absence. The first question that must be asked is: how long will Norm be out? Hamstring injuries are notoriously tricky, so while the Clippers haven’t made a formal announcement that he will be missing a certain period of time, I’d expect Norm to miss more than just the one game. It’s possible the absence is just one game or a couple, it’s also possible it’s more than a handful. We will just have to wait and see and hope that it recovers well.

Replacing Norm: The second question, of course, is who will replace Norm? There are three likely candidates to step into Norm’s spot in the starting unit. First is Amir Coffey, who is the most similar type of player (shooter who can slash and is mostly off-ball). Second is Terance Mann, who started the year as the starter and is comfortable with that unit, but has had an uneven campaign at best. The final option is Kevin Porter Jr., who has had a couple of good games mixed in with a lot of bad ones, but seems to have the trust of the coaching staff. Coffey makes the most logical sense, and I think he’s the frontrunner to take the starting role for as long as Norm is out.

The Bench Adjustments: Of course, if Coffey (or Mann or Porter) goes to the starting unit, that opens a spot on the bench as well. Ty Lue could trim the rotation to 9 and just play the two guys who don’t start, Nic Batum, and Mo Bamba, but he’s tried to play 10 most of the season and has a couple good candidates to step in. The most logical, again, is Jordan Miller, especially if it’s Coffey who starts, as he’s a similar build and plays somewhat similarly to Coffey. Another option is Bones Hyland, who might make the most sense if it’s Porter Jr goes to the starting unit. Finally is Kobe Brown, who makes less positional sense but does offer more rebounding and playmaking. I think it’s Jordan who gets the shot – which should make a lot of fans happy. Let’s see what he does with the opportunity.