Clippers vs. Wizards Game Notes

LA gets a breath of fresh air after a butt-kicking by the Bucks, going from facing the league's best defense to its worst.

The Clippers were blown out soundly by the Milwaukee Bucks, but the road gets much easier against the Washington Wizards. Here's what to watch for: 

• This is the second game of LA's 6-game road trip, and the front end of a back-to-back that ends in Indiana Monday. Kawhi Leonard has yet to play a back-to-back all season, and figures to sit out one of these games. He isn't listed on LA's injury report for Sunday's game, setting him up to rest Monday.
  It might make more sense to sit Leonard against the Wizards, an easier opponent than the Pacers, but resting Monday would allow Leonard to be fully fresh for Wednesday's game, ring night in Toronto. 
• Rodney McGruder and Landry Shamet remain out against Washington, though both are traveling with the team and project to return at some point on the trip. JaMychal Green, who has missed the last two and a half games, is still questionable with a tailbone contusion, and Patrick Patterson is not on the injury report after having back spasms against Milwaukee. 
• Mfiondu Kabengele was called up from Agua Caliente for this trip, presumably as an injury hedge with Green hurting. He didn't get into the Bucks game until garbage time. 
• Paul George had been getting off to hot starts until the disaster in Milwaukee, when he only scored 2 points in the first quarter. The Clippers need to get him going early, and often. 
• The one player who acquitted himself well against the Bucks was Ivica Zubac, who had 14 points and 12 rebounds, and played over half the game for the first time this season. Zubac has had a rough go on offense recently, but it was good to see him assert himself against an All-Star quality big in Brook Lopez. 
• The Wizards put up minimal defensive resistance at best against the Clippers last Sunday in Los Angeles, as the home team dropped 150 points for the second time this season. However, Washington has been improved over the last two games, perhaps due to the absence of two defensive sieves, Isaiah Thomas and Thomas Bryant. The Wizards surprised Philadelphia in a victory Thursday and almost stole a game from the Heat Friday. These aren't the Bucks, but they're also not last week's Wizards.