Clippers at Kings
The Los Angeles Clippers equate visits to Sacramento with recording victories and they strive to post their ninth consecutive win in the capital city of California when they visit the Kings on Friday. Los Angeles saw the new Golden 1 Center for the first time on Nov. 18 and posted a 121-115 victory despite 38 points from Sacramento star DeMarcus Cousins.
The Clippers are bracing for the return of point guard Chris Paul from a hamstring injury that caused him to miss the past four games. "Obviously, if it was a playoff game, Chris would be playing," Los Angeles coach Doc Rivers told reporters, "but we just want to make sure he doesn't have any soreness." Sacramento opened up a seven-game homestand by falling 107-102 to the struggling Miami Heat on Wednesday, a defeat that left backup guard Garrett Temple feeling dejected. "It's the most disappointed I've been the entire season," Temple told reporters. "We had a good win in Denver (on Tuesday) and we come in facing a depleted Miami team. Not to take away from them, but this is a game we have to win."
TV: 10:30 p.m. ET, Prime Ticket (Los Angeles), CSN California (Sacramento)
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (24-14): Guard Austin Rivers was superb with a season-best 28 points in 44 minutes in Wednesday's 115-106 victory over the Memphis Grizzlies as he picked up the backcourt slack for the injured Paul. Rivers was just 5-of-22 shooting over the previous two games before going 10-of-16 against the Grizzlies and recording seven assists. Backup shooting guard Jamal Crawford is out of his funk with a 20-point average over the past two games after averaging four points on 5-of-29 shooting over a three-game span.
ABOUT THE KINGS (15-20): Cousins was one of the Sacramento players who had a porous showing against the Heat as he tallied a season-low 13 points on 4-of-15 shooting. It snapped a stretch of 10 straight games or 20 more points, a span in which Cousins averaged 30.9 points. Backup point guard Ty Lawson performed admirably with 15 points (on 7-of-11 shooting) and six assists against the Heat after missing the previous contest due to a sinus fracture.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. The Clippers won seven of the past eight overall meetings.
2. Los Angeles C DeAndre Jordan collected 20 rebounds in each of the past two games and grabbed 20 or more five times this season.
3. Sacramento SF Rudy Gay (hip) is expected to be sidelined for the 11th time in 12 games.