LA Clippers get chance to rebound versus Suns as they head into All-Star break
On Wednesday night, the LA Clippers will take on the bottom-dwelling Phoenix Suns in their final game before the All-Star break.
After a long and team-altering road trip, the LA Clippers will finally return home, although the unit won’t look familiar to those who saw the team’s previous home game on January 31.
Since they last played at home, the Clippers have seen substantial change — six new players have been added to the team’s roster, and six are gone — still though, the attitude has remained the same. This new LA team still wants to win and do whatever it can to make the playoffs.
LA has played six straight games on the road, finishing with a record of 3-3 — though the team probably would have gotten a fourth win against the Indiana Pacers had they had more than 10 players available.
The most notable stat that came from the road trip was the team’s ability to come back from massive deficits. LA trailed by at least 20 points in all six games, and even overcame a 28-point deficit against the Boston Celtics that became the team’s largest comeback — regular and postseason — in franchise history.
The final game of the trip was played on Monday, and despite cutting the once 23-point deficit to four points with just under six minutes to play, the Clippers ended up losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves.
The loss knocked them back to the Western Conference’s ninth seed, just a few percentage points behind the Sacramento Kings. However, with a win tonight and a Kings loss, the Clippers could reclaim their spot and get back into playoff position. And while that might seem kind of meaningless at this point, owning that position going into the break would give either team plenty of momentum.
That scenario isn’t difficult to envision happening, either. The Clippers will host the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night, a team that’s just 4-25 on the road and has lost 14 consecutive games. The Kings, meanwhile, will travel to Denver and take on the Nuggets — a team that’s virtually impossible to take down at home.
The Clippers are 3-0 against the Suns this season, and should get plenty of support from the STAPLES Center crowd. After all, a large chunk of LA’s roster will be playing their first game at home on Wednesday, and players like Landry Shamet should receive a very warm welcome.
That being said, LA needs to be careful. This one has “trap game” written all over it, even if it’s against a team that’s trying to tank for Zion. Phoenix has surprisingly beaten some good teams this year, like Denver and Boston, and the Clippers can’t let themselves get in the same hole they’ve been in for nearly two weeks now.
Assuming they come out focused and build an early lead, the Clippers should win this one handily and enter the All-Star break in solid position. A loss could be severely damaging though, and every game counts in a race as tightly contested as the one going on in the West.
Next. Roundtable: Where do the Clippers stand at the All-Star break?. dark
The LA Clippers and Phoenix Suns will take the floor tonight at STAPLES Center at 7:30 PM PST. Forwards Wilson Chandler and Luc Mbah a Moute are both out for the contest.