76ers at Clippers
The Los Angeles Clippers are capable of looking like NBA title contenders one night and a lottery team the next. The Clippers will try to bring their "A" game against a lesser opponent when they host the Philadelphia 76ers on Saturday.
Los Angeles had no trouble getting up for a 116-102 win over the Boston Celtics, who sit second in the Eastern Conference, on Monday and beat the playoff-bound Memphis Grizzlies on the road Wednesday but sandwiched a 107-91 loss at sub-.500 Minnesota in between. The Clippers, who are two games behind Utah in the race for the No. 4 spot in the West, will need to avoid looking past the 76ers with a showdown at the Jazz looming on Monday. Philadelphia is lottery-bound once again but is still giving teams a good challenge and battled to the wire in a 114-108 overtime loss at Portland to begin a four-game West Coast swing on Thursday. The loss was the third straight and sixth in seven games for the 76ers, who continue to get strong minutes from rookie forward Dario Saric.
TV: 3:30 p.m. ET, TCN (Philadelphia), Prime Ticket (Los Angeles)
ABOUT THE 76ERS (23-41): Philadelphia center Joel Embiid was the presumptive Rookie of the Year before a knee injury ended his season, and Saric is stepping up to make his own run at the award. The 22-year-old Croatia native delivered 28 points on 11-of-16 shooting and nine rebounds on Thursday to reach double figures in scoring for the 14th straight game. Saric could have used some scoring help from his starting backcourt against Portland, but T.J. McConnell and Nik Stauskas combined to go 0-of-14 from the floor in the loss.
ABOUT THE CLIPPERS (39-26): Los Angeles failed to match the defensive intensity of the young Timberwolves on Wednesday but had no trouble finding an extra gear against the Grizzlies. The bench was a big part of the difference, totaling 61 points in Memphis after managing 32 in Minnesota. Guard Austin Rivers, who was pushed back into a reserve role when star point guard Chris Paul returned from a thumb injury recently, broke out with 20 points to lead the reserves on Thursday after averaging 7.3 points in the previous four contests.
BUZZER BEATERS
1. 76ers C Jahlil Okafor collected 16 points and eight rebounds in 29 minutes on Thursday after missing the previous two games with a knee injury.
2. Clippers PF Blake Griffin recorded 14 points and 12 rebounds on Thursday for his first double-double in six games this month.
3. Philadelphia earned a 121-110 home win over Los Angeles on Jan. 24 behind 16 points and eight boards from Saric.