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Three things to watch for as LA Clippers host Portland Trail Blazers

By Jordan German

LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Ivica Zubac #40 of the LA Clippers battle for possession of the ball during the game on March 12, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images)
LOS ANGELES, CA - MARCH 12: Jusuf Nurkic #27 of the Portland Trail Blazers and Ivica Zubac #40 of the LA Clippers battle for possession of the ball during the game on March 12, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, California. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and/or using this Photograph, user is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2019 NBAE (Photo by Chris Elise/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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The Portland Trail Blazers are coming to town tonight to square off against the LA Clippers, and as always, there are three main topics to watch for.

The Portland Trail Blazers are coming to town tonight after losing two tough games, one of them being a major upset to the starless Golden State Warriors. The LA Clippers are coming off a loss of their own that was a very close game without Kawhi Leonard, but this time, they will have their superstar back out on the court, which also happens to be our first topic of discussion.

How will Kawhi play coming off a break?

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The last game that Kawhi Leonard sat out before last night was a loss against the Utah Jazz, and the game right after that saw Kawhi drop 30 points, seven rebounds and five assists. It was an absolute spectacle to watch him play that night, he was feeling up to the task. Although his knee has ailed him for a while, he seems to come back really strong after his off-nights, and he will need to come up big tonight if the Clippers want to win.

Already in this young season, Leonard is averaging 29.3 points, 7.3 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game, so his last off-night is not a real problem despite what some people have said. Now is the best time of any to prove the skeptics wrong with a big night after his resting game, and it will take a hands-on performance from everyone to see that through.

Can the offense stay hot from start to finish?

Last night was a tough game to judge. The offense would just be incredibly unlucky one moment, and then they would come storming back until they just went cold again. The Clippers managed to drop 30+ points in every period except one, and that is impressive considering that they allowed the Bucks to go on a 30-5 scoring run at one point. But there was just no quit, it was like watching the starless Clippers of last year, and they really held their own against one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Now with Leonard back on the floor, they need to fire up the offense for the full 48 minutes.

Players like Landry Shamet and JaMychal Green were hitting some clutch threes, but there were plenty of opportunities to pull closer with a two that ended in a missed three for the Clippers and an immediate three by the Bucks. It is incredibly hard to be consistent, but it is what you have to do to succeed, and for the Clippers, they need twos and threes instead of going for the miracle three multiple times.

If they can stack on the pressure and the offense early on, they will need to simply keep it up to a lesser extent later on when they are eventually tired to get this very important win. But just as important as the offense is the defense, and they are the last piece to this puzzle of topics to watch.

Does the defense finally find a way to clamp down?

Although there have been some real defensive struggles early on, the only thing they need to live up to their full potential is consistency. The Clippers’ defense has come up big before, but the problem is that they aren’t coming up big enough.

Last night, for example, saw LA’s offense come storming back only to see the defense allow multiple three balls in a row to keep the game out of reach. Sometimes letting the three go is something you have to do, but the number of times the defense got caught out-of-place to allow it was unacceptable.

Luckily, the defense will have a solid boost with Leonard back out there, but they have to be playing better even without him. There needs to be more of an effort to get those turnovers and just a big need to play grittier and riskier defense. Not to the point where you start flopping for getting tapped on the side of the head, but something that is better than clamping down one second and then standing there clueless the next.

If Leonard and Patrick Beverley can do their thing and lead the defense, this game should hopefully be better.

Slack Chat: Kawhi Leonard resting shouldn’t upset everyone. dark. Next

In closing, a big game from Kawhi Leonard is required to fire up the offense and to keep the defense consistent, and it promises to be a very tough but fun game against the Trail Blazers. The game will be on TNT at 7:30 PM PDT. Make sure to check out our Twitter for the live-tweeting during the game!

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