Kelvin Kuo-USA TODAY Sports
Healthy Clippers look to keep rolling vs Phoenix Suns
It's always difficult to believe this stat when it comes up, but the L.A. Clippers have played just five games this season with a healthy roster. They're crushing teams when that happens, too.
According to Statmuse, the Clippers are 5-0 when fully healthy, with wins over the Los Angeles Lakers, Miami Heat, San Antonio Spurs, Minnesota Timberwolves and, most recently, the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday night. What's more, L.A. outscored those teams by an average margin of 12.8 points per game.
Of course, this should come as no surprise. The Clippers have always had one of the best rosters in the NBA this season (if not the best), but health hasn't allowed the team to fully unlock its potential. Even in those games where the team is fully healthy, there's room for improvement. L.A. is still making simple mistakes, and a lot of it has to do with a lack of continuity.
Each time the Clippers have gotten healthy this season, it ends up being short-lived. The team has played consecutive games at full strength just once, and that streak ended at three.
That said, things feel different this time. It was reported that Patrick Beverley and Paul George practiced last Friday and could have played against Sacramento the next day, but were held out. That extra rest appeared to pay off in L.A.'s big win over Memphis.
A move like that — one that prioritizes health over some random game in February — should be commended. The Clippers didn't get the result they wanted against Sacramento, but if that means having a full roster available for the next five or six games (and hopefully many more), then so be it.
L.A. will get to deploy its full roster again on Tuesday night when the Clippers travel to Arizona to take on the Phoenix Suns. Tip-off is set for 6:00 p.m. Pacific time. ESPN has the Clippers listed as a 6-point favorite.
The Clippers have gone 1-1 against the Suns this season. L.A.'s first loss of the year was suffered in Phoenix on October 26, but the Clippers rebounded in Los Angeles in December in a 21-point victory.
Phoenix has played well since returning from the All-Star break, winning two of its three games and defeating the Utah Jazz by 20 points on Monday night. Still, the Clippers should have the edge here. Even with the lack of continuity, L.A. has enough talent to go toe-to-toe with the league's very best.
The Clippers also displayed a sense of urgency in the win over Memphis that hasn't been seen in some time, especially against a lesser opponent. It was arguably the best the team has looked all season long, and L.A. appears poised to carry that momentum into Phoenix.
