Clippers at Suns
The Los Angeles Clippers hope they have put a three-game funk behind them as they enter Wednesday's road contest against the Phoenix Suns. The Clippers allowed an average of 121 points in losses to Philadelphia, Boston and Sacramento before rebounding with a dominating 124-97 home win over the Memphis Grizzlies on Monday.
Los Angeles led by as many as 35 in the second quarter against Memphis and cruised to the finish with the much-needed easy victory. "I thought we played with high intensity," Clippers coach Doc Rivers told reporters. "We set the tone with our defense. With the way we can score, if we get stops, we're going to score a lot of points." Phoenix won three of its last four after pulling off a stunning 131-111 victory over the host Utah Jazz on Monday night. "We didn't get complacent," All-Star shooting guard Devin Booker said afterward. "I think once we got the lead we kept building on it. We haven't done that a lot this year. When we get up 10 or 15 points, that is usually a turning point in the wrong way for us but we just kept going, kept battling and kept responding to any push that they made."
TIME: 9 p.m. ET. TV: Prime Ticket, FS Arizona
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (38-19): Los Angeles would like to keep forward Paul George healthy down the stretch and he returned from a hamstring injury on Monday to score seven points in 21 minutes. George has played in just 35 games while averaging 21.3 points but has failed to make a deep impact while All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard continues to thrive. "I'm hoping we can keep moving forward," Leonard told reporters after scoring 25 points in Monday's win. "It's important for everyone to be able to play, know their roles and keep being consistent."
ABOUT THE SUNS (24-34): Point guard Ricky Rubio spent the past two seasons with Utah and ended up with Phoenix after the Jazz felt they had upgraded themselves by acquiring Mike Conley from the Memphis Grizzlies. But Rubio was by far the best point guard in the building on Monday when he had 22 points, 11 assists, six rebounds and a season-best seven steals against the team in which he spent the past two seasons. "It's pretty clear he's made a lot of our guys look better on the floor," Suns coach Monty Williams said of Rubio. "His leadership, his demeanor, obviously the game that he brings, the winning attitude. He's a great dude. He's persevered this year through a lot. That's said a lot about him and it's really inspired our team in moments."
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The teams split two games this season but the Clippers have won 22 of the past 25 meetings.
2. Booker scored 24 points against Utah and exceeded 20 in seven of the past eight games.
3. Leonard scored 20 or more points in 16 of the past 17 games.