Clippers Look to Bounce Back Against Heat

Team: Los Angeles Clippers (11-16) at Miami Heat (14-14)
Time: Saturday, December 16, 2017 at 8:00pm ET (American Airlines Arena)

24 hours after a gutsy loss against the Wizards, the LA Clippers look bounce back against the Miami Heat. While the Clippers aren’t favored to win this game, it’s definitely a winnable game, especially if Hassan Whiteside is out. Los Angeles will still be 4 missing players, but they should be getting back the services of Milos Teodosic tonight.

Miami may be injured, but they have won the last 3 out of 4 games; the Clippers should not take the Heat lightly. Here’s how the Clippers can be successful tonight:

Play Aggressive Defense

The Miami Heat are a fantastic defensive team (8th overall at 102.6 PPG), but a bottom 5 offensive team (26th overall at 100.4). If the Clippers can play very in-your-face defense, it’ll lead to great offense. The Heat are also the 25th most turnover prone team in the league (21.1), and 23rd in assists (21.1). However, Miami is 2nd in the league at making the highest % of 3 pointers, at 35.5%.

https://twitter.com/MiamiHEAT/status/942044658233778176

This means if the Clippers relax at all on the defensive end, Miami will make them pay with a 3 pointer.

Control the Glass

The Clippers have done a fantastic job these last couple of games at rebounding, and playing hard. This needs to continue tonight, as the team is still incredibly short-handed. Miami is the 25th best rebounding team in the league, averaging 41.1 RPG. If Hassan Whiteside is out, Deandre Jordan needs to feast on the boards and get at least 3 offensive rebounds.

DJ gets his own rebound even w/ three defenders present. 💪

📺 #PrimeTicket pic.twitter.com/l8xg56plmj

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 16, 2017

There’s no excuse for the Clippers to lose the rebounding war tonight, other than effort.

Prediction: If the Clippers can hold Miami to under 11 threes, they will win this game.