The Clippers sit at 2-8, and their trouble is at the other end. As of Thursday they had allowed 117 or more in 4 of their last 5, including a 133-110 loss in Phoenix and a 1-point home loss to Miami. Before this one they host Oklahoma City in Friday's NBA Cup group-stage game. That will be the Clippers' first look at the Thunder since a 108-101 loss on October 25, and the result will set the mood heading into Sunday.
Brandon Ingram is the name to watch. He's been ruled out of Friday's game while he works back from an Achilles injury, but he has been ramping up activity and getting close to his first game of the season. Bradley Beal (knee) and Jordan Miller (rotator cuff surgery) are long-term absences, and center Yanic Konan Niederhauser has been dealing with a foot injury. Whether Ingram is ready by Sunday is the biggest unknown on either side.
On paper, this is a Clippers offense that put up 139 on New Orleans against a Charlotte team that can't count on 100 most nights. The Clippers' defense is the reason to doubt that edge. They've given up points in bunches, and a Hornets team that dropped 124 on Cleveland earlier this month has shown it can catch fire against a defense that lets it. Neither team is in a position to take the other lightly.
