Marcus Morris, Landry Shamet, and others need to step up for the LA Clippers on Saturday.
After Thursday night’s loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, fans began to look at what went wrong. No, the loss wasn’t anything horrific but the LA Clippers just didn’t have enough out of their team to win. Sure, Lou Williams and Montrezl Harrell were out of the lineup and that counts for something but a two-point loss means the game was well within reach. Two of the main culprits? Marcus Morris and Landry Shamet.
Let’s start with Morris. Everyone saw the stats on television last night about his struggles versus the Lakers since joining the Clips. If you didn’t, I can keep it simple: He hasn’t made a bucket yet versus Los Angeles.
His tenure with the Clippers hasn’t been much better, though. In his thirteen games with the Clippers, he is shooting a paltry 27% from deep. His overall field goal percentage isn’t even that great, just 37.3% from the field.
Remember, LA gave up a first-round pick and Maurice Harkless in order to acquire what they thought would be another floor spacer and scorer next to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George. They haven’t exactly gotten that.
For Shamet, he is still recovering from his COVID-19 diagnosis, so his shot not falling in last night’s contest makes sense. Most of his looks were the type you would want him to get, so it’s just a matter of getting his legs back underneath him.
Hopefully, Saturday is the opportunity for both players, alongside Joakim Noah who had just one versus the Lakers in his first official appearance for the team, to find their rhythm. All three could very well have meaningful playoff minutes and need to be in top form.
The Pelicans are a fringe playoff team and provide the perfect opportunity for that to happen. The Pelicans aren’t super deep and Shamet should expect increased minutes with Lou still in quarantine. Morris will have the opportunity to take on Zion Williamson (who is on a minutes restriction) in the starting lineup. If both can provide meaningful minutes, especially on offense, it will help quell some of the concerns Clipper Nation has.