The halfway point of January is around the corner, and the LA Clippers have yet to win on the front and tail-end of a back-to-back. A majority of their season has been drowned in losses, and amid the recent stretch that has featured a victory-dominant blend, the Clippers did not play a back-to-back; their last was December 5th and 6th on the road.
Furthermore, at Little Caesars Arena tonight, the Clippers face the Detroit Pistons. They just defeated the Brooklyn Nets on the East Coast by 16 less than 24 hours ago, and have the chance to shatter what was supposed to happen at its very first opportunity.
Additionally, the Clippers may be staffed with Kawhi Leonard. He played in Brooklyn, scored 26 points, had a team-high impact of a +19, and topped his night off with three steals, backing up why his presence would be a massive boost against the first seed in the Eastern Conference.
The LA Clippers cannot depend on one player to do all of the scoring
The LA Clippers have given the Detroit Pistons trauma with a series of 50-point performances. The last time they faced off, on December 28th, Kawhi Leonard scored 55, and in the final moments of the matchup before, which was last season at the beginning of March, James Harden recorded his 50th point at the charity stripe.
However, head coach Tyronn Lue and his staff cannot depend on just one player. They must do right and feed the hot hand, if it is Leonard, Harden, or someone else, but wisely, there must be an actual game plan.
Lue would be playing with fire if he tried his luck against the Pistons. They did not just magically become the first-seed out of the blue. Detroit has one of the best point guards in the game in Cade Cunningham, two all-defensive-caliber defenders in Ausar Thompson and Isaiah Stewart, and a list of tremendous role players.
As for the injury report, Cunningham(right wrist) and Stewart(illness) are questionable and did not partake in the team shootaround earlier today, while Jalen Duren(right ankle) and Tobias Harris(left hip) are out.
That said, the Pistons are the hottest team in the Eastern Conference, having won three games in a row, yet the Clippers have a chance not only to spoil their run but also to start one of their own and win a set of back-to-back contests for the first time this season.