Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports
The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to have their entire rotation available for their matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers on Sunday.
Meanwhile, the Purple and Gold have listed Anthony Davis (probable), LeBron James (questionable), Rui Hachimura (out), Gabe Vincent (out) and D’Angelo Russell (questionable) on their injury report for Sunday.
The Lakers would love to get Russell back in the lineup after he missed the team’s last three games. The Lakers have desperately needed more scoring and ball-handling skills around James and Davis.
Sunday’s rivalry game between the Lakers and Clippers reportedly is a big one for Lakers head coach Darvin Ham. It will be tough for the Lakers to win against a healthy Clippers team that has been on fire entering this game.
The Clippers have put together a five-game winning streak, climbing to the No. 4 seed in the Western Conference in the process. The team is 8-2 over its last 10 games.
After a slow start to the season, especially after the James Harden trade, the Clippers seem to have found a formula that works with Harden, Paul George, Kawhi Leonard and Russell Westbrook on the roster.
The team lost the first five games it played with Harden, but since then, the Clippers have gone 19-5 in their last 24 games.
The former MVP has been great for the Clippers, even though he’s embracing a smaller role as a scorer. Harden is taking just 11.0 shots per game this season, his lowest since his third season in the NBA.
Overall, the Clippers guard is averaging 17.4 points, 4.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game while shooting 46.6 percent from the field and 42.5 percent from beyond the arc.
The Lakers have struggled since winning the NBA’s In-Season Tournament, and they’ve fallen to the No. 11 seed in the Western Conference ahead of Sunday’s game.
LeBron James and company have lost four straight games, most recently losing to the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night.
With the Lakers making rotation changes as of late, Ham is under pressure to get the team back to playing winning basketball. A potential return from Russell would help, but Los Angeles needs more from its other role players as well.
The Lakers and Clippers are scheduled to tip off at 6:30 p.m. PST on Sunday.
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