LA Clippers stay hot beating Memphis and Miami with Leonard returning- January 2024
The Clippers took on the Memphis grizzlies right before the new year again without Kawhi Leonard. It was nursing his hip injury. This is his fourth Street game. He’ll miss the clippers went to two without them after winning nine straight. That important is to the team. Ja Morant made his return after being sick the night before versus Denver, but didn’t look at full strength and didn’t play up to his usual self. They had won four games in a row with him back in the lineup. However, James Harden, Russell, Westbrook and Paul George came through in the second half to pull away from the visitors and stop that streak. The Clippers built a big lead but in squandered it in the second quarter as they were sloppy with the basketball and allowed Memphis to actually take the lead. The Clippers stayed composed and played well in the second half to win this game 117-106.
Next up were the Miami Heat on January 1 to celebrate the New Year. The Heat have been inconsistent. They played again without Jimmy Butler, who has a foot injury. Kawhi Leonard was back after missing 4 games for the home Clips at Crypto.com arena
The visiting Heat came out with a lot of energy and took a 15 point lead in the second quarter while the Clippers were playing lethargically. Kawhi Leonard sparked a second quarter come back with 13 points and they took a one point lead to go to halftime. LA continue to pull away in the third quarter with all-around play from Paul George, Harden, Leonard and Norman Powell. Russell Westbrook supplied a lot of energy, playing well on defense and making some great passes to set up his teammates. Zubac was controlling the boards and the team pulled away in the fourth quarter to make it a blowout.
Miami had no answers and missing Butler was huge. Jaime Jaquez Jr. made his debut in LA as a rookie coming from UCLA. He played decent as did Bam Adebayo with 21 points as did Kevin Love off the bench. This is a great test versus a good team in LA as they continue to gel especially with Leonard in the lineup. In other news, Mason Plumlee came off the injured list and was on the bench, but did not play as the Clippers are now all fully healed, and fourth place in the Western Conference They hit the road but a big matchup coming up on Jan. 7th vs the Lakers as a road game in LA. More info and their upcoming schedule at www.nba.com/clippers