Philadelphia 76ers vs Los Angeles Clippers Prediction: Who will be stronger?

Doc Rivers coached the Los Angeles Clippers for 7 years, and now we can hear him in the Philadelphia locker room. For the Sixers coach, a win over their opponents is even more important than for his players - will the team please their boss?

The team has won six straight and moved up to fifth in their conference, and Doc Rivers seems to have found the optimal rotation for the 76ers. In the back line, De'Anthony Melton, James Harden, and Shake Milton share almost all playing time while Tyreese Maxey is injured. Daniel House and Matthysse Tybull rotate by the situation, and Montrez Harrell plays a steady 10-12 minutes. P.J. Tucker and George Niang are essential role players in the frontcourt, and the roles of Tobias Harris and Joel Embiid have always been clear. Embiid leads the NBA in scoring average (32.5 points) while allowing 4.7 assists, 4th in the league among centers. Only Nikola Jokic, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Domantas Sabonis led the way.

In 3 of their last six games, Philadelphia has scored at least 50% from the field. However, the figure in the previous game against Detroit was more modest (44.1%). The game was a blowout (113:93). They regularly punished their opponent for stupid turnovers and scored 20 points on fastbreak baskets.

If it weren't for the playoff run last season, you could say that the regular season isn't all that important to the team. The Clippers have a deep roster, they're 5th in the West, and the most important thing is to get the game going in the postseason. L.A. has had a pessimistic streak, but now they've won 5 of 6 games, and Kawai Leonard has started playing about 30 minutes a game since his second comeback. Kawai averaged 19.1 points in 7 games, scoring at a higher field goal percentage than Paul George (45% vs. 42.7%), although Leonard's three-pointers are much worse.

The team beat Charlotte in their last regular-season game: 49 of the Clippers' 81 shots were three-pointers. The final score was 126:105 in favor of Los Angeles. Butum hit three-pointers, four for Luke Kennard and three for Marcus Morris.

The 76ers have been playing from the field lately, hitting 40 three-pointers, though they're only 17th in the NBA in average attempts. On a good stretch, Philadelphia has rarely faced solid defense: Golden State, Charlotte, Detroit, and Sacramento State cannot be called defensive experts. The Clippers could handle Charlotte's fast offense, scoring an odd number of three-pointers. The 76ers, against the Pistons, were quick to put their snipers on the shot, and now the tempo will be much slower.

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