The Clippers have great timing – if the objective is to line up opponents in a way that’ll help forge their mettle for challenges ahead.
Lately, L.A. has been catching opponents on the upswing or after an extra day of rest – both of which will be true Sunday when they meet the Milwaukee Bucks in a showdown between conference powers at 12:30 p.m. on ABC.
The Clippers (24-11) are 3-3 in their most recent stretch of games. In the past week and a half, they’ve played twice against Utah – the NBA’s hottest team, which made it 20 wins in 21 games against the Clippers before L.A. snapped the Jazz’s nine-game winning streak – and against Brooklyn, which won its sixth consecutive game against Tyronn Lue’s squad.
They also took on Washington, which saw its five-game winning streak halted in L.A., and Memphis, a young team that had an extra day to prepare, which was helpful, they said, in toppling the Clippers in the first of two games they played this past week.
Next up are the Bucks, hungry for a signature victory after having just gotten off the schneid, reeling off four victories – the latest coming at home Thursday against New Orleans – after having dropped five consecutive games.
It seems as if something has clicked in those past four victories for Milwaukee, which in that span is averaging a league-best 123.5 points per game, rebounding at a league-best rate of 52.8 per game and has a net rating of plus-7.8 that’s second to only Utah’s plus-9.3.
Meanwhile, the Clippers – whose positive net rating of 6.1 in that same short span is the NBA’s third-best – hadn’t even had time to think about the Bucks until they were asked about them following Friday’s convincing 119-99 victory in Memphis.
“I’ll be honest, we literally haven’t spoken one single word about the Bucks yet,” Clippers guard Lou Williams said. “We’ve been taking a game-to-game approach, we haven’t really had an opportunity to lock into those guys.
“The only time I see the Bucks is when they’re on national television. Other than that, we’ve been dealing with Western Conference teams.
“I’m sure,” he added, “it’ll be a great challenge for both teams and we look forward to it. But haven’t spoken about it yet.”
Paul George’s immediate reference point was last season, when the Bucks beat the Clippers twice – including throttling them 119-91 in Milwaukee on Dec. 6, 2019, when two-time league MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo celebrated his 25th birthday with 27 points and 11 rebounds in just 26 minutes of work.
“They had our number last year,” the Clippers forward said. “And so, you know, we remember that. We’re feeling we can match up with them. They’re one of the better teams in the East. It is another great stepping stone for this group, playing another good team and … continuing to keep growing.”
One thing George was sure of: “It will be another fun matchup.”
Especially for fans whose idea of fun is seeing the game’s greatest performers go at it. Thus, a national TV audience is invited to tune in to see Antetokounmpo, the two-time reigning MVP, face off against the Clippers’ quiet, do-it-all assassin, whom George said Friday ought to be in the most-valuable conversation.
“The MVP is about the most valuable player,” George said of Kawhi Leonard, who on Friday had 30 points, nine rebounds, seven assists and a block in 30 minutes. “This team wouldn’t be where we are at without Kawhi on that floor. Again, it surprised me tonight, I didn’t know he had 30. But he is just super-reliable, super-effective. It is almost calming having him on the floor knowing whenever things get rocky, teams make runs, he’s the guy that kind of just settles things and kind of just on his own slows the game down.
“There’s a lot of guys are ahead of him that have pretty good rosters as well,” George continued. “Hopefully his résumé over this year, the media voters, whoever makes that call will take that into account.”
CLIPPERS (24-11) at BUCKS (20-13)
When: 12:30 p.m. Sunday
Where: Fiserv Forum, Milwaukee
TV: ABC
Game speaks for itself. pic.twitter.com/yMMK9afjtR
— LA Clippers (@LAClippers) February 27, 2021
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