Clippers vs. Hawks Game Notes

The Clippers are getting closer to full strength, as Kawhi Leonard and Paul George are projected to play together for the first time as teammates.

LA had a disheartening road trip against Houston and New Orleans, failing to execute on the offensive end against the Rockets and suffering multiple defensive breakdowns against the Pelicans. However, the Clippers were missing key players in both matchups, and they project to be closer to full health against the Atlanta Hawks. Here's what to watch for:

• A game after dealing with Jrue Holiday, Trae Young is another terror at the lead guard spot. Young is averaging 27.3 points and 9.1 assists per game while shooting 38.6% from long range. He is an offense in and of himself and is dangerous spotting up, coming off screens, and setting up for his teammates. His footwork in his second season is already lethal beyond his years, and he is able to essentially get wherever he wants to on the court despite his size.
  
  Young already led an upset of the Clippers last season in Los Angeles, though he had his pick-and-roll partner John Collins available for that game. With fewer offensive threats in the Hawks lineup today, the Clippers could have some success blitzing Trae Young out of the pick-and-roll, or simply putting a long-armed defender on him, like Moe Harkless or Rodney McGruder.  

• Paul George was fairly harsh in assessing his debut performance, even though he was rather efficient offensively. As he works through the rust, two keys to keep an eye on are George's turnovers and his individual defense. He had five turnovers against New Orleans to go along with five fouls in less than 25 minutes.
  
  As Harkless pointed out at shootaround, a lot of George's issues stemmed likely stemmed from conditioning. "Obviously, I think what he felt, he probably was a little tired, he was fouling. But those are things that come with getting used to the speed again," Harkless said. "For that to be your first game, as a teammate I can’t be mad at that because it happens. Once he gets his legs back and gets his wind back, I think he will be great because he is already a great defensive player."

• In their first game without Landry Shamet Wednesday, the Clippers elected to start Harkless in place of their sophomore sharpshooter. However, there wasn't enough spacing and the offense lagged, prompting Rivers to replace Patrick Patterson with Lou Williams to start the second half. Paul George will naturally take Shamet's spot now, but Patterson – who also didn't start against New Orleans – may still be in line for a demotion, with Harkless and McGruder as natural alternatives. 

• Welcome back to Ty Wallace, a Clippers fan favorite who could never quite crack the rotation in Los Angeles. Wallace spent oodles of practice time with Williams and is probably the Hawks' best option to guard Atlanta's native son in the second unit. 

• Multiple Clippers have had increased responsibilities with the two superstars sitting out games to start the season. Now that Leonard and George should both be back together, that simplifies the game for the role players. "I just feel like you have to do the little things," McGruder said. "When you're on the court with those guys, you just have to be ready to shoot and space the floor for them. Try to make the game easier for them. The paint is gonna be packed. A lot of eyes are gonna be on those guys."