The LA Clippers will be going to battle against the Memphis Grizzlies in what will be the first matchup in a final stretch of home games.
The 46-31 LA Clippers will face off against the 31-45 Memphis Grizzlies. LA has their postseason ticket punched whereas Memphis has been eliminated from playoff contention.
Neither team possesses a rest advantage in this matchup. Both teams played yesterday and won against their respective opponents. LA beat Cleveland easily and Memphis narrowly escaping Pheonix with a 5-point win.
The Clippers will be without Luc Mbah a Moute as per usual and could be without Danilo Gallinari again tonight for rest purposes. The Clippers rested Lou Williams against Milwaukee on Thursday. LA went on to rest Gallo last night against Cleveland. Montrezl Harrell suffered what appeared to be a leg injury last night, but he fought through it and didn’t seem bothered by it for the rest of the game. The Clippers may give him a night of rest against the Grizzlies.
The Grizzlies will be without several key players. Rookie Jaren Jackson Jr. is out, Kyle Anderson is out, Avery Bradley is out, Joakim Noah is out, and Mike Conley may be out as well. Memphis is severely hindered and this could ultimately tip the outcome in favor of LA.
ESPN gives the Clippers a 72.2% chance of winning this game, and rightfully so. LA is a much better team than Memphis on the second night of back-to-back games. The Clippers are 6-7 in these matchups on second nights. The Grizzlies are an abysmal 1-8 on the second night of a back-to-back.
This game, as are all of the remaining matchups for LAC, is extremely important. The Clippers are a half-game behind the fifth-seeded Utah Jazz. A win here will help push LA closer to moving up in the Western Conference playoff seeding.
Follow @ClipperholicsFS on Twitter for updates throughout tonight’s game!