After being held out of Friday’s game against Houston, LA Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute is listed as questionable for Sunday’s matchup with the Wizards.
Per Clippers PR, LA Clippers forward Luc Mbah a Moute is listed as questionable for Sundays game against the Washington Wizards with a sore left knee.
Mbah a Moute previously missed Friday’s matchup with the Houston Rockets due to the same issue. It didn’t seem as LA really missed Mbah a Moute’s defensive contributions though, as the Clippers defeated the Rockets by a final score of 133-113.
Mbah a Moute doesn’t have much of an injury history — at least not during his previous years in Los Angeles. From 2015-2017, Prince Luc suited up for 155 of a possible 164 games, starting in 137.
However, last season, Mbah a Moute was forced to sit out of 21 regular season games with a dislocated shoulder.
Prior to his knee injury, Mbah a Moute was averaging 5.0 points and 1.8 rebounds in just over 15 minutes per game this season. His best game came against the New Orleans Pelicans on Tuesday, when he recorded eight points and a block.
If Mbah a Moute is forced to sit out of Sunday’s contest, expect Mike Scott to see a significant bump in minutes, much like he did on Friday.
Scott logged a season-high 19 minutes against the Rockets, going for six points, two assists, and two steals. He also recorded a plus/minus rating of 10.
In addition to Scott, the Clippers may also look to play Tyrone Wallace a bit more than they did on Friday. Despite playing point guard last season for Los Angeles, Wallace proved in the preseason that he can play the small forward position with ease.
Although Mbah a Moute is one of the Clippers bench’s best defensive players, they should be fine without him against Washington. The Wizards are getting just over 30 points per game from their bench this season, and about 70 from their starters. Roughly 45 of those points come from John Wall and Bradley Beal. Washington’s top bench contributor is Kelly Oubre, who scores 15.6 per night.
Los Angeles did well against Houston’s bench on Friday, giving up 41 points to their 85. Gerald Green was the Rockets’ best contributor off the bench, scoring 19 points in 23 minutes of play.
Assuming Mbah a Moute’s injury isn’t too serious, we can expect him to return to the lineup sometime next week. His earliest chance will be next Tuesday when the LA Clippers travel to Oklahoma City to take on Russell Westbrook and the Thunder.