Game Preview: Clippers go to Washington

The LA Clippers started their current three game winning steak against the very team against whom they could make it four. Last Saturday, the Clippers put the Wizards away with the help of two huge three point shots by Austin Rivers and Lou Williams.

After Williams’ three-pointer, which left 1.2 seconds on the clock, the Clippers were able to fend off two chances by the Wizards to steal a win (how did the Wizards get two chances in 1.2 seconds? I am still not entirely sure, but it had something to do with a clock malfunction).

Because this game comes so near to their last meet up, one would be inclined the say that the dynamics should be fairly similar — save for the flipping of home court advantage — but there will in fact be a few key personnel differences in this game: Milos Teodosic will be back in the lineup, while Austin Rivers, one of the aforementioned heros of game 1, will be out with a concussion and Gallinari will miss the show as well. As for the Wizards, they will have John Wall back in their lineup.

With Gallinari’s absence, the Clippers will hope to see Sam Dekker build on his nice game against the Magic on Wednesday. Taylor Smith, of ClipsNation, summarized Dekker’s game well in our most recent recap:

Not for nothing, the Clippers also got a good effort out of Sam Dekker, who had struggled tremendously all season. Dekker scored 12 points and grabbed four rebounds in 26 minutes off the bench. He played with confidence, too, which is something we haven’t seen from him since he came over from Houston last summer. Hopefully this was a game to build on for the youngster.

The Wizards are also coming off a win, beating the Grizzlies by 6 at home on Wednesday. Check out the NBA’s recap of their recent win:

One last note: This game will be an early one for California viewers, with a 4pm tip off. The game can be viewed on Prime Ticket.