5. December 25 – @ Los Angeles Lakers
Was there any doubt that this one would be on the list? Christmas Day games are always huge, but with the Lakers on the schedule, it’s just that much bigger.
Lebron James and Anthony Davis will square off against Kawhi Leonard and Paul George in the battle of Los Angeles. The only other meeting between these two teams was on opening night when the Clippers handled the Lakers 112-102.
Kawhi opened the season ready to play, scoring 30 points on an efficient 10-19 shooting. The unsung hero was the Clippers bench who scored 60 points. The effort was again led by Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell, but JaMychal Green and Maurice Harkless were both great.
This game might just be one of the ones we are healthy for. Landry Shamet should be back from his ankle injury and with him getting minutes, the Clippers offense just gets that much more dangerous. We have yet to see the type of spacing he will have sharing the court with both George and Leonard, but we have to imagine he will be open to knock down shots.
The Lakers have been great since opening night, with LeBron looking as good as ever. They just had a ten-game win streak broken, but are likely the team to beat now. Christmas has a very strong possibility of being another preview to this year’s Western Conference Finals and will be the marquee game in a day full of star-studded matchups.
The Clippers have some tough games in December but should be able to get through it, especially once they are healthy again. These five games will all be tough, but each one is very much winnable. What game are you most looking forward to? Let us know on Twitter and check back here all month for your LA Clippers’ coverage!