Healthy or not, Clippers are prepared for fight vs. Warriors

The Golden State Warriors might not look familiar, but the LA Clippers are preparing for a battle nonetheless.

The LA Clippers and Golden State Warriors have met once already this year, but under very different circumstances.

In their debut at the all-new Chase Center in San Francisco, the Warriors took the floor looking like a very different team than the one that lost in six games to the Toronto Raptors in the 2019 NBA Finals. Stephen Curry and Draymond Green lined up alongside their new star, D'Angelo Russell, but were without Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Andre Iguodala – three players who were crucial to their title runs. 

LA won by 19 points, tied for its largest margin of victory over Golden State since the 2017-18 campaign.

These days, the Warriors are even more short-handed. Curry has been sidelined since late October with a broken hand, Thompson isn't expected to return until next season, and Russell has missed almost half of Golden State's games with various injuries. He's questionable to play Friday, but Curry's return is still far off.

The Clippers – namely Patrick Beverley – aren't using any of that as an excuse.

"When other teams were hurt and they were preparing for teams, they didn't really give a f***," Beverley said. "They were coming in here and taking care of business. That's our mindset also."

But what the Clippers say and do have become two different things since the calendar turned. They're 2-1 in 2020, but were blown out at home by a Memphis Grizzlies team that was nine games under .500 and barely squeaked by the New York Knicks. 

That said, Friday should be the perfect opportunity for the Clippers to back up their talk and turn up the intensity.

The Clippers have had four full days off since their last game, allowing them plenty of time to rest and get in some much-needed practice sessions. The Warriors are in the midst of a six-game losing streak and have already played twice this week. 

At 9-30, Golden State doesn't quite stack up to LA in terms of talent, either. If Russell doesn't play, Alec Burks and Glenn Robinson III become two of the Warriors' most reliable scoring options, who are currently averaging 15.9 points and 12.1 points per game, respectively. If he does play, the Clippers can throw a variety of players at him to keep him on his toes.

Doc Rivers hasn't hesitated to take a "defense by committee" approach, which usually involves a trio of Clippers being switched on and off of an opposing team's best offensive player. Last Saturday, Derrick Walton Jr., Kawhi Leonard and Maurice Harkless all went at Ja Morant in the first few minutes of the game. Expect LA to do something similar with Russell, but with Beverley in Walton's place.

One of the few things going against the Clippers in the coming matchup is health, as Paul George has already been ruled out of the game due to a left hamstring strain. Patrick Patterson has typically been Rivers' go-to guy when George is sidelined, so look for him to get the start. He doesn't bring the same defensive intensity as George does, but has knocked down 38.5 percent of his attempts from three-point range.

A win for the Clippers would be their second in a row and could be the beginning of their longest streak of the season, as the coming schedule is relatively favorable outside of Sunday night's meeting with the Denver Nuggets.