The LA Clippers travel to Atlanta to face the Hawks and break their 9 game losing streak.
The LA Clippers have to win again at some point, right? Right? Tonight may be the ideal opportunity as the team travels to Atlanta to face the 3-14 Hawks. The LA Clippers are looking to break their 9 game losing streak and slowly build back some momentum.
Blake Griffin
After a night of partying and de-stressing with Kendall Jenner, the forward will need to be ready to play. His shooting has been awful during the losing streak, as you can see in the tweet below. This Hawks team gives him the perfect opportunity to turn it around though. An early outburst for him could do wonders for both his and the team’s confidence.
A look at the shot chart for #Clippers forward Blake Griffin from the current 9-game losing streak. Griffin has shot just 66-179 (36.7%) from the field & 17-58 (29.3%) from 3PT.
— Tomer Azarly (@TomerAzarly) November 21, 2017
In his first 7 games (LA went 5-2), he shot 53-109 (48.6%) from the field & 16-37 (43.2%) from 3PT. pic.twitter.com/asoPqMWOos
The team seems to go the way Griffin does, so if he’s not scoring efficiently, it becomes tough for them to win.
The Guards
Both of tonight’s starting guards need this game for separate reasons.
Patrick Beverley returned on Monday after missing 5 straight games with a knee injury. Playing against a weak Hawks team should allow him to continue to get back into the swing of things and get some conditioning in.
After the time this was written, news broke that Beverley has been sent back to Los Angeles.
The other guard, Austin Rivers, needs this game for redemption. After going 1-9 on Monday, Rivers needs a bounce back game. Fans are calling for the removal of both him and his dad, so he needs to prove that at least one of the Rivers is worth keeping around. Although he is getting too many minutes, he can be a serviceable player off the bench.
Outlook
I don’t want to be too optimistic, as this team has given me no reason to be as of late. However, the team does have to get a win at some point and tonight feels like that night. I think the Clippers bounce back finally, pull off a double digit victory in Atlanta and give us something to be thankful for as we head into the holidays.