James Alberino

 

The Clippers have a lot of injuries and just had a back to back at the beginning of the week. Nic Batum is out and with Marcus Morris still out the Clippers are down 2 of their 9 guys from the rotation they played against Memphis the first week of the season when the Grizzlies won 120-114. Paul George had 41 on 15 of 25 shooting, Reggie Jackson scored 17, Dillon Brooks didn’t play and the Clippers still lost by 6. Brooks came back 3 games ago and scored 23, 16 and 20 and is 7 for his 15 from three. He’ll defend Paul George a lot and if 41 wasn’t enough the first game vs Memphis than PG is going to need a big game plus a lot of scoring from Reggie Jackson and then Tre Mann, Luke Kennard and BJ Boston off the bench. Amir Coffey (5ppg) is starting for Batum. Eric Bledsoe is the Clippers 3rd scorer and is shooting 25% from three, 13 for 52. The Grizzlies are 7-7 after a brutal schedule but they beat the Warriors on the road and beat the Nuggets twice back to back. Ja Morant, Jaren Jackson, and Dillon Brooks should all have big games. The Clippers need to shoot at a really high clip to win, which they can, but this is an uphill game for them and the Grizzlies are deeper tonight.