LA Clippers: 3 things to watch for in season opener vs. Lakers
3. What will the LA Clippers’ big rotation do?
I touched on the Lakers’ big men earlier but the matchup with them will likely be the key to this game. The Lakers lost Dwight Howard and JaVale McGee, two key pieces in their championship run, but added Marc Gasol and Montrezl Harrell in their place.
The Clippers are now starting Serge Ibaka with Ivica Zubac coming off the bench. How will these big men stack up against each other? Ibaka and Gasol are familiar with each other, having spent time together in Toronto over the past couple of years. They should have a good matchup but Ibaka is the better player at this point in their respective careers.
The backup big matchup is the one that is most intriguing. Harrell joined the Lakers after the Clippers seemingly made no effort to bring him back. The Sixth Man of the Year winner now hopes to win a championship in the other LA lockerroom.
Despite his playoff struggles, Harrell is still a very talented player on the offensive end. Zubac, however, showed last year just how good of a defensive presence he is. Tonight could be a classic “unstoppable force meets an unmovable object” type of deal when the two bench bigs clash.
Zubac has the size advantage on Harrell and with all the stuff that has come out since the Denver series, Clipper Nation hopes we get a similar performance out of Zu versus Trezz that we did when Trezz faced off against Nikola Jokic.
The Clips’ bigs will also have to deal with a heavy dosage of Anthony Davis and cannot afford to get into foul trouble. As well as Mfiondu Kabengele played in the preseason, if he has to come in and play major minutes due to Ibaka and Zu getting into foul trouble, the Clips will not particularly stand a chance.
Next. Predicting the results of the December games. dark
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