The Los Angeles Clippers are expected to debut their new look Sunday, just in time to play host to the NBA champion Milwaukee Bucks.
The Clippers acquired guard Norman Powell and forward Robert Covington from the Portland Trail Blazers on Friday, and both are in line to make their debuts with the team. The move cost Los Angeles veteran guard Eric Bledsoe and forward Justise Winslow, among other pieces, but a scorer like Powell is what the Clippers were desperate to add.
“He … can be an engine in terms of he can create some of his own offense,” Clippers president of basketball operations Lawrence Frank said of Powell, who has scored 18.7 points per game this season and is shooting 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
Los Angeles still doesn’t know if stars Kawhi Leonard (knee) or Paul George (elbow) will return this season, but a mix-and-match roster has found some success. Now the Clippers have added a veteran of seven seasons in Powell, a UCLA product who is returning to familiar surroundings. The 28-year-old grew up in San Diego.
The Clippers have won four of their last six games and five of eight.
Most of those games came during a whopper eight-game road trip that could have sent the season into a downward spiral. The latest crafty victory came Thursday, 111-110 over the Los Angeles Lakers, when the Clippers led by 17 in the third quarter but had to hang on for a win on Reggie Jackson’s spinning layup with less than five seconds remaining.
“We know Kawhi’s probably not gonna come back, we don’t know the status of PG, but these guys continue to keep fighting … every single night,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said.
The Bucks enter off Saturday’s 137-108 victory over the short-handed Trail Blazers, Milwaukee’s sixth win in eight games. It has been a much-needed burst after the Bucks lost six of eight early in the new year.
Giannis Antetokounmpo scored 29 points with nine rebounds and six assists against the Blazers, while Bobby Portis added a season-best 30 points to kick off a four-game Western Conference road trip.
The Bucks will remain in Los Angeles for a game against the Lakers on Tuesday, and then head to Phoenix on Thursday for an NBA Finals rematch with the Suns.
Milwaukee is undergoing its own change. The Bucks signed free-agent big man Greg Monroe, a veteran of 10 seasons, who made his return to the team Saturday on a 10-day deal. He had six points with six rebounds in 15 minutes.
Monroe, who appeared in three games for the Timberwolves and two for the Wizards earlier this season, last played for Milwaukee in the 2017-18 season.
“I’m not coming from the couch,” said Monroe, who has played 18 games this season in the G-League and NBA, counting Saturday. “I’ve gotten in a full season. I’m ready to play. It’s just about getting caught up with exactly what they do here. I’m definitely ready to play. Excited to be back here. Looking forward to getting out there.”
Brook Lopez (back) remains out indefinitely for the Bucks but will visit a specialist in Los Angeles in a hopeful sign as his rehab progresses.
–Field Level Media
