Clippers vs. Portland Trail Blazers preview
Clippers forward Glen Davis, left, puts up a shot in front of Portland Trail Blazers center Chris Kaman during the Clippers’ loss at Staples Center on March 4.
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The Clippers play at Portland on Wednesday in the second leg of a back-to-back after losing to the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, 110-106.
The loss snapped the Clippers seven-game win streak.
With only seven games remaining in the regular season, the Clippers (49-26) are in fifth place in the Western Conference, virtually tied with the fourth-place Portland Trail Blazers (48-25), who have won four straight games.
If the Clippers finish the season with a better record than the Trail Blazers, they will have home-court advantage even if the Trail Blazers have a guaranteed top-four seed for winning their division, which they are on track to do. In a tie, the Trail Blazers would get the higher seeding if they end up winning their division.
In Tuesday’s loss, the Clippers blew a 17-point first-half advantage over the Warriors to lead by just a point, 103-102, with 1 minute and 10 seconds left. In the final minute, the Warriors outscored the Clippers 7-4 for the win.
The Clippers are 2-1 against Portland this season, having beaten the Trail Blazers in their first two matchups -- 106-102 on Nov. 8 and 100-94 on Jan. 14 -- before losing to them in overtime, 98-93, on March 4.
After facing up against the Warriors’ Stephen Curry, Chris Paul now has to play against Damian Lillard, who is averaging 21 points and 6.3 assists a game for the Trail Blazers. Paul is averaging 18.9 points and 10.1 assists for the Clippers.
“It’s a point-guard-driven league,” Paul said after Tuesday’s loss, adding, “Luckily for me, we don’t play one-on-one every night.”
Go beyond the scoreboard
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