The Los Angeles Clippers and Charlotte Hornets are in adjustment mode, but right now things seem to be working better for the Clippers.
When the teams meet Friday night in Charlotte, Los Angeles should have forward Kawhi Leonard for his 10th game of the season, while the Hornets will have to make do without leading scorer LaMelo Ball.
The Clippers won 128-116 against the host San Antonio Spurs on Wednesday night. They’re 3-1 in their past four games and 7-3 in their last 10.
The offense flowed through the starting unit in the San Antonio game, with four players eclipsing the 20-point mark. That included 27 points apiece from Leonard and Norman Powell, who secured his 19th game with at least 25 points. Powell has posted 20 or more points in 11 of the last 12 games.
The Clippers continue to work Leonard back into the flow. Coming off a late beginning to his season, he has a restriction of 28 minutes, so coach Tyronn Lue said part of the plan has been to save some of his availability for late in games.
“It has been a little difficult,” Lue said. “We just got to figure it. Just continuing to keep building until guys get comfortable. … We’ve just got to stay with it. We’re trying to get Kawhi back as fast as we can.”
James Harden committed six turnovers Wednesday, all in the first half. Lue said the Clippers finally adjusted and did better dealing with full-court pressure in the second half.
But Harden has been charged with six turnovers in three of the past four games.
Charlotte has lost four of its last five games after Wednesday’s 104-83 defeat to the Brooklyn Nets. That was the Hornets’ lowest-scoring game of the season despite Miles Bridges providing 23 points.
Ball left Monday’s game against the Los Angeles Lakers with an ankle sprain and sat out Wednesday. The Hornets announced that he will be re-evaluated in one week, which seemed like positive news regarding the oft-ailing standout.
“You never know what could come from some of the evaluation, it could be a longer timetable,” Charlotte coach Charles Lee said. “And so to hear a week, I think that is a good thing to hear. I’m glad to hear that’s the best news of a bad case.”
The Hornets still have to sort out how they’re going to compensate from Ball’s absence along with a season-ending injury to swingman Brandon Miller.
Charlotte is counting more heavily on Bridges, who’s averaging 22.1 points per game across his last nine outings.
The Hornets also have been without center Mark Williams in recent games. They’ve received a good lift from Moussa Diabate on the boards.
“I’m just trying to play hard and give everything I have,” Diabate said.
It’s a return to Charlotte for Clippers forward Nic Batum, who spent five seasons with the Hornets from 2015-20. He’s averaging a career-low 3.3 points per game, mostly as a reserve. His 12 points Wednesday night matched his season-high total.
This was supposed to be the second meeting of the season between the teams. But a Jan. 11 matchup was postponed because of the wildfires in the Los Angeles area. It will be made up March 16.
The Hornets are 1-3 so far on a nine-game homestand.
–Field Level Media
