The LA Clippers return home after a semi-successful three-game road trip. Even though they went 2-1, they found themselves trailing by double-digits during their wins against the Minnesota Timberwolves and Houston Rockets and blew a large lead in their loss to the Bucks.
Nevertheless, wins are wins and the Wolves win was incredibly impressive especially considering the Clippers poor play against them so far this season.
As they return home for a few games, health is one of the key areas of focus for the Clippers. Although they have starting center Ivica Zubac back in the lineup, he’s still hampered by the effects of his illness and he did not play in the second half against the Rockets.
Defensively, the Clippers need to be better, especially to start games. They’ve managed to dig themselves out of holes in recent games but that’s not conducive to winning basketball. Rebounding has to be better as well. Against the Rockets, Houston was just quicker to loose balls after missed shots.
Those aforementioned issues could be addressed with the presence of a healthy Zubac; it can’t be stressed enough how important he is to this team.
The Antagonist
The Chicago Bulls come to town essentially locked into one of the play-in spots in the Eastern Conference. The Bulls are stuck in no-man’s-land. Not bad enough to tank and not good enough to scare anyone in postseason play.
