Friday’s NBA on ESPN actions kicks off with a bang, as the visiting LA Clippers are healed up from their load management and look to roll out a healthy starting five against the Miami Heat. The battle between the West’s most arduous defensive juggernaut and the East’s most tedious mismatch on D takes place at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN, and for these two squads who are starting to get their bearings about themselves as we enter the final stretch of waiting for the All-Star break in mid-February.
By the way this season has transpired, Miami is practically indestructible when they play in the confines of their American Airlines Arena, now with a league-best 20-1 home record with their only loss coming by way of the Lakers back in December. This 31-13 team is nothing to be meddled with, and for a Clippers team that crashed back down to earth following a head-scratching loss to the Atlanta Hawks (who didn’t have Trae Young) while they decided to rest their prominent starters in Kawhi Leonard and Paul George for their Load Management strategy, this is not a team to take lightly.
They have won four of their last five and have been backed the tremendous play of Kendrick Nunn, Bam Adebayo, and Tyler Herro, and they’re menacingly deep, with former nobodies like Duncan Robinson quickly becoming household names. It hasn’t just been Jimmy Butler leading the charge for this young Heat team, but a collaborative effort by each and every piece of Erik Spoelstra’s squad pitching in to secure the second-best record in the East.
As for the Clippers, the need to bounce back from an embarrassing loss to a team with the league’s worst record is something Doc Rivers hopes was just a tiny blemish on the intimidating persona this Clippers roster displays on a nightly basis, now getting Kawhi Leonard back in the active lineup. It’s looking like Patrick Patterson will start in place of Paul George as game time approaches, so Rivers’ combination of Patterson, JaMychal Green and Montrezl Harrell will have to replicate the usual 23.5 ppg. that George contributes to the Clips on a nightly basis.
Tonight’s game features the unstoppable road force in the Clippers squaring up against the unmovable home object in the Heat in what should be some hearty Friday night entertainment for all NBA fans to revel in and enjoy.
Tip-off is at 8:00 p.m. on ESPN.
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