The Los Angeles Clippers (33-15) visit the Brooklyn Nets (18-28) Monday night in a battle of two teams headed in very different directions.
The Clippers have won eight of their last 10 games, and are still riding the momentum from a blowout win over San Antonio on Saturday. The Clips are now up to third in the Western Conference standings, and they trail second-place Memphis by just 2.5 games.
Meanwhile, the Nets are still in a freefall that began right around the beginning of 2015. Brooklyn is just 3-12 since January 1, and they've somehow managed to fall all the way out of the Eastern Conference playoff spots to 9th place (no small feat when the 8th-place team is seven games under .500).
Vital Stats
Where? Barclays Center, Brooklyn, NY
When? 7:30 PM ET
What Channel? YES
Previous Meetings: The Clippers won the only other meeting this season 123-84 on January 22
What To Watch For
Can the Nets avoid another embarrassment?
When these two teams met in Los Angeles last month, it was an absolute slaughter. The Clippers were up 70-37 at the half, and no LA starter ended up playing more than 26 minutes as Doc Rivers quickly handed things over to his reserves. This time, the Nets will be playing for pride, and another one-sided blowout at home could be a crushing blow for a Brooklyn squad trying to get back on track.
Will Deron Williams play? Will it matter?
Williams is listed as questionable with a rib injury, and is expected to be a game-time decision (or close to it). He's missed Brooklyn's last 11 games now, but averaged just 10.6 points and 6.4 assists when "healthy" in December. At this point, there's real concern in Brooklyn over whether Williams will ever get back to the level he played at in Utah.
Can Blake Griffin keep rolling?
Griffin has improved his scoring average in each month of the season so far, and his shooting average improved from .480 in December to .539 in January. Clippers fans are very interested to see if he can keep this up, and he should have an excellent opportunity to start February on a high note against Brooklyn's less-than-impressive defense.
Prediction: Clippers win, 112-96
It won't be as ugly as the last time these teams met, but that doesn't mean it'll be pretty. The Clippers are simply a much better team than the Nets right now, and we expect that disparity to show on the floor from the opening tip. While Brooklyn has some extra motivation thanks to the last meeting, the gulf in quality is just too wide right now.
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