Nets at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers haven’t played outside Pacific Standard Time since Dec. 23 and they’ll try to benefit from being close to home once again when they host the Brooklyn Nets on Thursday night. The Clippers have taken advantage of the lack of travel to win nine of their last 13 and stay within striking distance of the Western Conference leaders. The Nets are coming off a three-point win Wednesday night at the Sacramento Kings in which they nearly squandered a 23-point lead.
Brooklyn would be wise to have another fast start against the Clippers after scoring 36 points in the opening quarter against Sacramento, matching their highest-scoring quarter of the season. The Clippers are 21-5 this season when they lead after the opening quarter versus 5-9 when they trail. Either way, expect an early feeling-out period as these teams haven’t met since Dec. 12, 2013.
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, TNT, FSN Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE NETS (18-24): Deron Williams, the third-leading scorer for Brooklyn and assist leader, has started non-contact workouts but will miss his eighth consecutive game with a rib injury. Jarrett Jack has done a solid job filling in for Williams as the starting point guard, averaging 15.7 points and 7.4 assists in the last nine games. Jack also has some history with Clippers point guard Chris Paul, facing off against him in college and spending a season backing him up in New Orleans.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (28-14): J.J. Redick made 53 baskets from 3-point range in the month of December, the most by any Clipper in any month in club history, and has made another 23 this month, but he probably won’t get as many good looks at the basket as he is accustomed. That’s because he’ll likely be guarded at the outside by Bojan Bogdanovic, who owns a 4-inch height advantage on Redick. Look for Redick to try and get loose early, as he came into the week leading NBA players (minimum 10 starts) in scoring during the game's first three minutes (2.8).
BUZZER BEATERS
1. Clippers G Jamal Crawford needs 12 3-pointers to move past Rashard Lewis (1,787) and into eighth place on the NBA list of career 3-pointers.
2. Clippers C DeAndre Jordan has reached double figures in rebounds in a league-high 36 games this season.
3. Jordan came into Wednesday leading the NBA in field-goal percentage (72.1) while Brooklyn C Mason Plumlee was a distant third (58.2).