Brooklyn's backcourt is getting healthier too. Egor Demin has missed 6 straight with a bone bruise in his right leg and is listed as probable, with reporting saying he is set to return Wednesday. Nolan Traore is the new question mark. He is listed as questionable with right calf soreness. Brown, the No. 6 pick, isn't cleared for back-to-backs yet, and this one isn't a back-to-back. Jordi Fernandez let him go against the Hawks. Brown started 0-for-7 and still scored 13 of his 18 in the fourth, and that's the most fun thing happening on this roster right now.
The problem in Brooklyn is scoring. The Nets rank 25th in offense, and 93 points in Dallas was what that looks like when the rookie sits. Their 2 wins in the last 5 both came when the defense held, 98-90 at Indiana and 114-104 over Charlotte. Against a Pelicans team that just gave up 139 and 138 on consecutive nights, Brooklyn won't need a great offensive night. A normal one would do, and getting Demin back gives Fernandez another ball-handler to build it with.
For New Orleans, the issue is the defense, and it showed up in more than the back-to-back. The 2 wins in their last 5 came by 1 point in Memphis and by 7 over Utah, so even the good stretch was a shootout. A home crowd and Zion and Murphy back in the lineup help, but a team that has let opponents into the 130s twice in 2 nights doesn't fix that with one day off.
Clippers123-139
Tipoff is 7:00 PM CT on Wednesday, November 11. If Zion plays and Brown gets his full minutes, this is a rookie guard carrying an offense against a forward who just made 9 of 9 shots. That's worth watching even between 2 teams in the bottom half of the standings. The injury report points toward both teams being closer to full strength than they've been all week. If Murphy's knees or Traore's calf act up before tipoff, it's back to finding out whose bench is less thin.
