December 6-14: Eastern Road Trip Keeps Good Times Rolling
The Clippers start the month of December 2-0 with two home wins but for almost two weeks the Clippers will see a slew of East games with the Timberwolves sprinkled in that also features three playoff teams from last year.
The Bucks will start the road trip and give the Clippers their first loss of the month in Fiserv Forum in a matchup that sees Giannis v. Kawhi in a rare matchup of two of the top forwards in the NBA.
The Wizards will then host the Clippers in Washington and the Clippers will bounce back and send the Wizards packing again and move to 3-1 on the month before gaining another victory over the new look Indiana Pacers in Bankers Life Fieldhouse before arguably the biggest matchup of the season personally for Kawhi Leonard.
On December 11, Kawhi Leonard will return to Toronto after bringing the Raptors their first title in franchise history before departing to LA in the offseason. The game will likely be emotional for the Clippers newest star and he should expect a standing ovation from the Canadian faithful before the two teams take the court. I would even go as far as to say that he will get a tribute video which may feature his illustrious game winning shot over the Sixers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals.
As far as the game is concerned, I would assume the Clippers will win but emotions will definitely be running high so the game will come down to the wire regardless of the outcome. It should be interesting to see how a Raptors team without Kawhi plays, but the team definitely has some talent in Fred VanVleet, Pascal Siakam, Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka. Nevertheless, Kawhi escapes Toronto with the victory.
The Clippers will than travel to another cold city in Minneapolis, Minnesota to take on the Timberwolves and will come out with another victory to keep the momentum going in the month of December. A win over the Bulls will follow the victory over Minnesota to cap off a 5-1 road trip.