Clippers, Warriors battle injuries, each other for playoff contention
Two teams battling for NBA play-in positioning and a leg up on what could turn into a critical tiebreaker go head-to-head Monday night when the Los Angeles Clippers and Golden State Warriors duel in San Francisco.
The clubs split a pair of earlier meetings, each winning on its home court. More than two months after the Warriors dominated an October contest, winning 98-79, the Clippers harassed Jimmy Butler III into an errant 16-footer at the buzzer of the host's 103-102 triumph in the January rematch.
The Clippers used a 137-117 home romp over the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday night to move into the ninth position in the Western Conference playoff chase. They will take the court Monday 2 1/2 games behind eighth-place Golden State.
Los Angeles will have to endure the second night of a back-to-back when the clubs meet for a third of four times this season, but Golden State enters the contest in far worse physical shape.
An examination of star guard Stephen Curry's painful right knee Saturday revealed improvement, but not enough to gain him clearance back into the Warriors' lineup. So he will miss an 11th straight game Monday -- and at least four more before another check-up has been scheduled for next week.
"It's just about each day. Can you stack good days? And I've done that," Curry told ABC during Saturday's nationally televised 129-101 home loss to the Los Angeles Lakers. "So, hopefully, they can unleash me on the court sooner than later.
"This is a weird one. It's kind of unpredictable how it'll heal. But every day since All-Star week has been progress. That's all I can ask for."
The Warriors also are without Butler, out for the season with an ACL tear, and have played the last four games without newly acquired Kristaps Porzingis, who has been dealing with an illness that will also keep him out of Monday's game.
Even while alternating losses and wins in their last five games, the Warriors enter the contest in better form than the Clippers, who had lost three in a row before Sunday's drubbing of the Pelicans.
Reserve Jordan Miller was the only Clipper pressed into more than 29 minutes of duty in the front-running victory, potentially opening the door for Kawhi Leonard to play both ends of the back-to-back.
Leonard had seen action in 14 straight games -- including three back-to-backs -- before sitting out last Thursday's home loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves with a sore left ankle. He played 29 minutes against the Pelicans, less than the 30.6 he averaged during his 14-game run.
The Clippers are expected to debut a new weapon Monday when guard Darius Garland is scheduled to make his team debut after having been acquired at the trade deadline from the Cleveland Cavaliers. The son of former longtime Warriors guard Winston Garland hasn't played since Jan. 14 because of a sprained right big toe.
Garland cited the presence of Leonard as a key reason for his rush to get back on the floor.
"When it first happened, I was kind of skeptical," he told reporters of joining the Clippers. "But I couldn't turn down this opportunity to play with another Hall of Famer (Leonard) and having a ball in my hands damn near 99% of the time."