Tips Before Tipoff: Clippers at Wizards

Team: Los Angeles Clippers (11-15) at Washington Wizards (15-13)
Time: Friday, December 15, 2017 at 7:00pm ET (Capital One Arena)

Tonight’s game will truly define the statement “It Takes Everything” for the LA Clippers. The phrase “shorthanded Clippers” seems to be used a lot this season, but it’s really true tonight. Los Angeles will be missing the services of: Blake Griffin, Patrick Beverley, Danilo Gallinari, and now Austin Rivers. Unfortunately for the Clippers, Washington has their All-Star point guard John Wall back in the lineup. The Wizards will also be looking for revenge, after Lou Williams hit a buzzer-beater on them last game.

Make Things Difficult for John Wall

The Clippers need to do everything in their power to throw John Wall off of his game. Wall just returned from an injury, and hasn’t started playing like his All-Star self yet. Last game against Memphis, Wall had 13 points in 27 minutes. If Wall regains any of his confidence, it will spell disaster for the Clippers. The Wizards are still only 19th in the league in assists (22.1), so the opportunity to frustrate the offense is more than available.

Hustle

Recently, the Wizards have had a tendency to blow leads against less talented teams. Washington blew a 13 point lead against the shorthanded Clippers last week, and blew a 17 point lead against the shorthanded Grizzlies on Wednesday. As long as the Clippers refuse to quit, they will always have chance, regardless of the scoreboard. A team may have less talent, but they can have more hustle.

🚫 DENIED 🚫 by @Dekker #NoChill

📺: #PrimeTicket pic.twitter.com/FZBEdECAfq

— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) December 14, 2017

Here’s what the Lou William said in regards to being shorthanded and needing to hustle more:

“When you are loaded with talent, you can just rely on that talent to win, but we don’t have that anymore. When your talent goes down, everyone else has to step it up and win that way. That’s what we’re doing now. You outhustle your opponent.”

Prediction: The Wizards are still 11-1 when their opponent scores under 100 points. The shorthanded Clippers may have trouble scoring 100, but it’s necessary in order to win.