The Los Angeles Clippers will try to bounce back from a loss to the Memphis Grizzlies when it heads to New Orleans on Saturday night.
The Clippers beat the Grizzlies on Wednesday, but they lost in the rematch on Friday. Meanwhile, New Orleans has won six of its last seven games.
Injury Update for Los Angeles Clippers and New Orleans Pelicans
From the middle of February to the beginning of March, Los Angeles lost seven of nine games and slid below.500 for the season.
Since then, the Clippers have been on a roll, winning eight of their last 12 games and putting themselves in position to avoid the Western Conference’s play-in tournament.
Before the late games on Friday, they led Golden State by one game for the No. 5 seed and New Orleans by two.
The Clippers keep playing despite missing Paul George, their starting shooting guard who is out with a knee injury.
However, small forward Kawhi Leonard missed only one game due to personal reasons and returned to the lineup on Friday night.
He played for 18 minutes, during which time he scored 12 points and pulled down 3 boards, and then sat out the rest of the game to recover.
Ian Murray of The Athletic reports that Leonard has been given the all-clear to play this Saturday against the Pelicans.
The Clippers decided to sit Leonard at halftime on Friday because they wanted to keep him fresh for the second game of the back-to-back. Leonard is expected to have a regular workload against the Pelicans.
The Clippers were successful in getting Leonard back into the swing of things and were also able to give him some much-needed rest in the final minutes. They had a far better chance of winning this matchup (and more important due to the current standings).
Earlier this month, New Orleans went on a five-game winning streak, the first time they had done so since the middle of February.
The Pelicans had their winning streak interrupted in a 120-109 loss to the Warriors on Tuesday, but they ended their four-game road trip with a 107-88 victory in Denver on Thursday.
Brandon Ingram scored 31 points, grabbed 11 boards, and dished out 10 assists for his third triple-double of the season.
A week after recording his first triple-double in the NBA, Ingram recorded another one on Thursday.
The veteran forward is single-handedly keeping the Pelicans in the playoff picture as Zion Williamson (hamstring) nears a comeback, averaging 29.6 points, 8.3 assists, and 6.3 rebounds over his last eight games.
Injury Report Pelicans:
- Jose Alvarado (Leg) – Out
- Zion Williamson (Hamstring) – Out
- E.J. Liddell (Knee) – Out
Injury Report Clippers:
- Eric Gordon (Hip) – Questionable
- Brandon Boston Jr. (Lower Body) – Questionable
- Marcus Morris (Covid-19) – Questionable
- Paul George (Knee) – Out
