Clippers try to keep pace in playoff race, visit Magic

The Los Angeles Clippers try to rebound on the second leg of a back-to-back and the final date of a four-game road swing when they visit the Orlando Magic on Monday.

Los Angeles (42-32) played without Kawhi Leonard (right knee injury management) on Sunday in a 127-122 loss at Cleveland. The Clippers trailed the Eastern Conference-leading Cavaliers almost the entire way, despite runs to cut double-digit-point disparities to one-possession margins in each of the last three quarters.

Norman Powell scored 34 points and James Harden had 24 points, leading the way with Leonard sidelined for the first time since March 12.

Powell’s performance was his best individually since returning recently from a nearly month-long absence that kept him out of 12 games.

Before the road trip, Powell told reporters, “I’m just trying to find my flow and rhythm while on a minutes restriction.”

The minutes restriction has been cut back gradually, and he played nearly 40 minutes in Cleveland.

The Clippers fell into eighth place in the Western Conference with the loss, tied with Minnesota in overall record. Golden State leads both by a game after its win on Sunday over San Antonio, while Memphis and the Los Angeles Lakers hold two- and three-game advantages over the Clippers through Sunday.

Orlando (36-39) moved into eighth place in the Eastern Conference since its 121-91 blowout of Sacramento on Saturday.

The Magic are one-half game behind Atlanta as they jockey for the most favorable of the four play-in round’s spots. Orlando and Atlanta have split the season series thus far 1-1, with two more head-to-head meetings still to come.

In the meantime, the Magic aim to build on their recent upturn. Saturday’s win was Orlando’s fourth in the last five games. In each of the four wins, the NBA’s second-to-lowest-scoring offense at 105.1 points per game has put up 111 points or more.

Orlando is locked into the postseason and trail recently slumping Milwaukee by 4 1/2 games for the last guaranteed playoff bid.

“That’s what you work for all season,” Orlando’s Paolo Banchero said of clinching at least a play-in spot. “We’ve dealt with a lot of injuries and stuff throughout the year, so just the fact that we’re able to be in the postseason, I don’t think anyone is taking it for granted.”

Both Banchero (25.9 points per game) and Franz Wagner (24.2) — Orlando’s two leading scorers on the season — missed significant time due to oblique injuries. The Magic also have been without spark-plug guard Cole Anthony in recent weeks, and he is listed as questionable for Monday’s game due to a toe injury.

“I’ve just been taking my time, trying not to rush it because there’s just no need,” Anthony told the Orlando Sentinel. “I already tried to come back once and it was premature.”

The Magic backcourt has been adjusting over the past month with Anthony sidelined and Jalen Suggs shut down for the year with a quadriceps injury.

Anthony Black had a run of four straight games scoring in double-figure scoring end with his eight points against Sacramento, but he tallied 64 points in the previous stretch.

–Field Level Media