On Tuesday night, the Los Angeles Clippers (10-5) will travel to Capital One Arena to take on the Washington Wizards (5-11). For the Clippers, they will be playing the second game of a back-to-back as they beat the Atlanta Hawks 127-119 on Monday. In that game, Montrezl Harrell led the Clippers with 25 points and 11 rebounds while Tobias Harris added 24 and 8. The Clippers have now won five games in a row.
For the Wizards, their issues go beyond just a disappointing 5-11 record. Reports have come out, according to Shams Charania of the Athletic, that there have been verbal altercations between both players and coaches at practices and that the atmosphere is pretty toxic. As a result, the Wizards are reportedly considering listening to offers on all of their players, including Bradley Beal and John Wall, according to Adrian Wojnarowski. Regardless, the Wizards will need to find some rhythm on the court if they hope to beat a Clippers team that is rolling. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:00 pm ET.
Surprisingly, the Wizards come in as 1-point favorites at home in this one. The over/under on points scored is set at 230.
By The Numbers
On both sides of the ball, the Clippers have been the better team. According to basketball-reference, the Clippers rank 3rd in the NBA in adjusted offensive rating at 115.04 while the Wizards come in at 17th with 108.28. On the defensive side, the adjusted defensive rating has the Clippers ranked 9th at 107.83 points, and the Wizards fall to 113.48. In others words, on average when taking opponent’s strength into consideration, the Clippers are scoring more and giving up fewer points on defense.
Clippers Look For Number Six
Currently on a roll, the Clippers will look for their sixth win in a row on Tuesday. On the season, they have really been a very balanced lineup with five players averaging double-digits in scoring and four of those averaging over 15 points per game. Tobias Harris has been leading the way averaging 20.9 points and 8.7 rebounds per game. Next has been Danillo Gallinari, who is averaging 19.6 points per game and 5.7 rebounds.
Others that have been contributing include Shal Gilgeous-Alexander (10.1 points), Montrezl Harrell (15.3 points, 6.9 rebounds), Boban Marjanovic (8.2 points, 4.9 rebounds) and Lou Williams (18.9 points, 4.6 assists).
Wizards Looking To Take Advantage of Talent
There is certainly no denying that the Wizards have talent, but they have just struggled to put it together on the court this season. Statistically, the Wizards have been led by both Bradley Beal and John Wall. Beal is averaging 21.5 points per game, 4.6 rebounds, and 3.5 assists while Wall has averaged 20.9 points, 7.9 assists and 2 steals per game. It will be interesting to see if one or both are moved as they are a very talented backcourt duo.
Aside from these two, Markieff Morris (9.7 points, 4.3 rebounds), Kelly Oubre Jr (12.6 points, 4.5 rebounds), Otto Porter Jr. (10.6 points, 4.4 rebounds), Dwight Howard (12.8 points, 9.2 rebounds, albeit in just 9 games) and Jeff Green (10.4 points, 5.3 rebounds) have all contributed for the Wizards.
Clippers Win Easily
Despite playing their second game in as many nights, I am just not sure I see a way that the Clippers lose this one. Granted, if Beal or Wall go off it could be an issue, but statistically, there isn’t much to like about the Wizards in this matchup. The Clippers have been playing better on both sides of the ball, have been on a roll lately and, frankly, are not dysfunctional like the Wizards appear to be at the moment. Especially since they are being spotted a point, I have a hard time not taking the Clippers in this one. Take Los Angeles at +1.