The Clippers, fresh off two wins at home, will look to earn a third consecutive victory, this time without leading scorer Norm Powell against the visiting Orlando Magic.

Game information

Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood, California

When: 7:30 PM PT

How to watch: FanDuel Sports SoCal, AM 570

Projected starting lineups

Magic: Jalen Suggs – Kentavious Caldwell-Pope – Tristan da Silva – Franz Wagner – Goga Bitadze

Hair clippers: James Harden – Amir Coffey – Kris Dunn – Derrick Jones Jr. – Ivica Zubac

Injuries

Magic: Paolo Banchero out (oblique), Wendell Carter Jr. doubtful (foot)

Hair clippers: Norm Powell out (Hamstring), Kawhi Leonard out (Knee), PJ Tucker out (off team), Cam Christie out (G-League), Trentyn Flowers out (G-League)

The big picture

The Clippers’ seesaw continues as they are now one game back over .500 after a nice win last night against the Warriors. Their defense has bounced back in wins over the Jazz and Warriors, who are now in sixth place^e
in the NBA after a brief decline from the top 10. Unfortunately, their offense has gone the other way and is ranked 22nd.^i.e in the competition. The Clippers simply can’t get both sides of the ball in top form at the same time and, as expected, are leaning more toward a gritty, defensive team. If they continue to emulate the James Harden of the past two games — fewer turnovers, more turnovers, great playmaking — they might be able to muster enough offense to keep winning. As Harden says, so does the Clippers’ offense, so hopefully he can continue to improve as we head into the holidays.

The antagonist

The Magic are 9-6 in third place in the Eastern Conference, despite missing star Paolo Banchero for most of the season and starter Wendell Carter Jr. several weeks. The Magic thrives for two reasons. First off, their defense is great and ranks second in the entire NBA. They are young, tall and physical on the perimeter and are a very solid rebounding team. Stringing together positive offensive possessions against the Magic’s defense is extremely difficult. Second, Franz Wagner is having a breakthrough in his fourth season, averaging career highs in points (22.9), rebounds (5.5), assists (5) and steals (1.4) while keeping turnovers low (1 .9) and scores excellently. (57.1 Real shots). The Magic’s offense is still poor, but Franz’s ability to get buckets and make plays for others keeps them upright so their defense can do the rest. They are difficult every game and Franz is a downhill force.

Comments

Standard out: The Clippers announced yesterday that Norm Powell would miss today’s game due to a hamstring injury. Norm is the Clippers’ leading scorer this year and first of three by a mile. Their already subpar offense and shooting will take a major hit as a result of his absence. The first question to ask is: how long will Norm be out? Hamstring injuries are notoriously difficult, so while the Clippers have not made a formal announcement that he will miss any period of time, I would expect Norm to miss more than just that one game. It’s possible that the absence is just one game or a few, but it’s also possible that it’s more than a handful. We’ll just have to wait and hope it recovers well.

Replace standard: The second question is of course: who will replace Norm? There are three likely candidates to take Norm’s spot in the starting unit. The first is Amir Coffey, the most similar type of player (shooter who can cut and is usually off the ball). In second place is Terance Mann, who started the year as the starter and is comfortable with that unit, but has had an uneven campaign at best. The final option is Kevin Porter Jr., who has had some good games, interspersed with a lot of bad ones, but seems to have the confidence of the coaching staff. Coffey makes the most sense, and I think he’s the frontrunner to take on the starting role while Norm is out.

The bank adjustments: If Coffey (or Mann or Porter) moves to the starting unit, a spot on the bench will of course also become available. Ty Lue could cut the rotation back to 9 and just play the two guys who aren’t starting, Nic Batum and Mo Bamba, but he’s spent most of the season trying to play 10 and has a few good candidates to fill in steps. Again, it’s Jordan Miller, especially if it’s Coffey starting, because he has a similar build and plays somewhat similarly to Coffey. Another option is Bones Hyland, who might make the most sense as Porter Jr. goes to the starter unit. Finally, there is Kobe Brown, who is less logical in terms of positioning, but offers more rebounding and playmaking ability. I think it’s Jordan who gets the chance, which should make a lot of fans happy. Let’s see what he does with the opportunity.