Thursday, March 28, 2024
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NBA Preview: Los Angeles Clippers (40-36) at Memphis Grizzlies (48-27)

With or without star guard Ja Morant, the Memphis Grizzlies continue to demonstrate that they can achieve success.

Their series of wins is at seven games ahead of a two-game visit from the Los Angeles Trimmers beginning Wednesday.

Because of soreness in his right thigh, Morant did not play in Memphis’ 113-108 home win over the Orlando Magic on Tuesday. The absence was more of a precaution given that it was the first game of a back-to-back set.

As a result of Morant’s questionable behavior during a live video from a nightclub, the Grizzlies (48-27) began their current winning streak while Morant was away on a self-imposed sabbatical that was changed to a league-mandated suspension.

Morant missed nine games, the first of which was on March 5, when the Grizzlies lost to the Clippers 135-129 in Los Angeles. Paul George led the Clippers with 42 points in that game, but he won’t play in this one because he is likely to miss the rest of the regular season with a right knee injury.

On Tuesday, Memphis received 31 points from Desmond Bane and a career-high 20 from Xavier Tillman despite not being able to rely on Morant.

Luke Kennard, who was gained by the Grizzlies from the Trimmers in a three-group exchange February, keeps on having an effect in his new group. He scored 16 points Tuesday, connecting on 4 of 5 attempts from three-point range, and has scored an average of 20 points in each of his last three games. In Friday’s playoff-clinching victory over the visiting Houston Rockets, he scored 30 points, all on a franchise-record 10 3-pointers.

The Clippers (40-36) are in fifth place, just one half-game out of fourth, while the Grizzlies (51-24) are in second place in the Western Conference, three games behind the Denver Nuggets. In any case, they are likewise only one game in front of the seventh-place Minnesota Timberwolves (39-37).

Nicolas Batum scored 24 points and connected on 8 of 10 attempts from three-point range in the Clippers’ 124-112 victory over the Chicago Bulls on Monday. Kawhi Leonard had 22 points, seven rebounds, and six assists in the game.

Russell Westbrook counted 12 focuses and 10 helps for Los Angeles. After a terrible start in which the team lost its first five games after he signed as a free agent in February, he has become more of a factor.

The Grizzlies and Clippers will play again on Friday in Memphis following their Wednesday matchup. Los Angeles has lost three of its beyond four games at Memphis, including the two challenges last season.

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