LA Clippers look to stay hot against Portland Trail Blazers

The LA Clippers have won eight of their last 10 games and face a Portland squad that has won three straight. Here’s what to watch for in tonight’s matchup.

The LA Clippers have again caught stride after a disappointing performance against the San Antonio Spurs last week, blowing out the Washington Wizards by a final of 150-125.

21 games into the season, the Clippers are at the top of the Western Conference standings (where they should be) and have posted a 12-1 home record in STAPLES Center this season, which is the best home record in the league.

The Portland Trail Blazers, on the other hand, have not had the same luck, as they currently sit in the bottom-five of the Western Conference standings with an 8-12 record. That said, veteran forward Carmelo Anthony has seemed to add a spark to a Blazers team that’s in the midst of a three-game winning streak. Although those games have all come against weaker competition, the wins were much needed for Portland who has struggled defensively, sitting 21st in points allowed per contest.

That does fair well for Portland as they are facing a Clippers squad that has posted 115.4 points per contest, which sits fifth in the league and third in the Western Conference. That in large part is due to the three-headed monster of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Lou Williams, who all post at least 20 points per game and shoot better than 42 percent from the floor.

Keep in mind that head coach Doc Rivers stated the Clippers are closer to being great defensively than they are offensively after a 150 point outing against the Washington Wizards a few nights ago, so to say this offense could get better may come off as delusional to some.

Although most of the news surrounding the Blazers has been about Anthony, the duo of Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum are a force night-in and night-out. They score with the basketball at will, so expect Patrick Beverley and George to be shadowing both all night.

Center Hassan Whiteside impressed in Portland’s previous performance, posting a franchise-record 10 blocks along with 15 rebounds and eight points. Center Ivica Zubac saw success against Whiteside in the first matchup between these two sides though, so expect Zubac and Montrezl Harrell to have their work cut out for them as they face Whiteside inside the paint all night.

Speaking of rebounds, the Clippers currently rank second in the league in the category while Portland ranks eighth, with the Clippers grabbing one offensive board per game more than Portland, so second-chance points will need to be a focus to slow down a hot Trail Blazers team.

The last matchup between Portland and LA went in favor of the Clippers in a 107-101 victory with Leonard leading all scorers with 27 points despite Williams taking over in the fourth quarter.

The Trail Blazers have won six of the last eight meetings against the Clippers and lead the all-time series 147-79.

The LA Clippers will look for their 16th win of the season tonight against Portland when the action begins at 7:00 p.m. PST.