Clippers continue pursuit of fourth in West vs. Lakers (Apr 01, 2017)
LOS ANGELES -- Despite an uneven second half, the Los Angeles Clippers believe they are close to returning to their early-season form when they were playing the best basketball in the NBA.
"We still have a ways to go, but we're right on the brink of it," point guard Chris Paul told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday after the Clippers held off the Phoenix Suns 124-118. "I think that's what it's telling us. We're capable of it. We know what to do. We just got to do it."
The Clippers (46-31) resume their chase for the fourth seed in the Western Conference race when they host the Los Angeles Lakers (21-54) on Saturday at Staples Center.
The Clippers, who are 11-10 since the All-Star break, are 1 1/2 games behind the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz with five games remaining. The Clippers have a more favorable schedule than the Jazz, who have six regular-season games left. Three of the Jazz's games are on the road against the San Antonio Spurs, Portland Trail Blazers and Golden State Warriors.
The Clippers play four of their final five regular-season games at home. And with the exception of an April 8 visit to San Antonio to face the Spurs, only the Houston Rockets, who the Clippers play on April 10 at Staples, have a winning record.
The Clippers lead No. 6 seed Oklahoma City by two games. The Thunder has seven games left in the regular season, with four of those on the road.
The Lakers have lost three in a row and 15 of their last 17 games. They also have dropped nine in a row on the Clippers' home floor and 17 of 19 games overall between the two. The Lakers have lost two of three this season to their Staples Center co-tenants with the only win occurring on Christmas Day when injuries sidelined Paul and Blake Griffin.
On Thursday, the Lakers were beaten by the Minnesota Timberwolves 119-104. Seven Lakers scored in double figures, but they were unable to overcome a career-high 33 points by Minnesota's Ricky Rubio, 32 points and nine rebounds by Karl-Anthony Towns and 27 points from Andrew Wiggins.
Lakers guard D'Angelo Russell found a silver lining.
"I feel like with us it could be anybody's night," said Russell, who scored 14 points in defeat, according to the Times. "To have that many guys scoring the ball, at a high rate. Add some defense to it, I think it'll be good."
The Lakers haven't been close to being good for much of the season. They remain in the conference cellar though they are only a half-game back of the Suns. The significance of that is the odds of landing the top pick in the NBA draft increase with the club that finishes last.
Injuries continue to be a sore point for the Lakers. However, rookie forward Brandon Ingram, who has missed the last three games with right patellar tendinitis, is listed as probable for Saturday's game.
But Lakers rookie center Ivica Zubac, who sustained a high right ankle sprain in the loss to the Timberwolves, is done for the season. Zubac had X-rays and underwent an MRI on Friday that confirmed the injury.
Backup Tarik Black, who scored a season-high 15 points with nine rebounds against Minnesota, is expected to replace Zubac in the starting lineup.
