The Clippers' New Starting Lineup Looks Like a Random 2K Generator
Lineup alert: Clippers will start Garland, Dunn, Jones Jr., Hachimura, Jackson on Sunday. - @UnderdogNBA
The Los Angeles Clippers just dropped their starting lineup for Sunday, and it reads like a random 2K MyTeam generated from an expired locker code.
According to Underdog NBA, Los Angeles will roll out Darius Garland, Kris Dunn, Derrick Jones Jr., Rui Hachimura, and Reggie Jackson. If you are holding tickets to see this specific five-man unit, you are officially paying NBA prices to watch a live science experiment.
The stakes here are pretty clear for a team that is currently in freefall. The Clippers are coming off a brutal stretch, dropping a 103-87 rock fight to the Los Angeles Lakers before getting run off the floor 127-101 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Management is clearly throwing things at the wall to see what sticks.
Garland actually being on the floor is a minor miracle in itself. The point guard's left big toe has its own dedicated medical chart at this point, requiring surgery that sidelined him for months earlier this year. Now he is tasked with carrying an offense alongside Dunn, a defensive specialist who treats three-pointers like a polite suggestion.
From a betting perspective, trying to handicap this rotation is a complete nightmare. You have a mix of injury-recovering guards, athletic wings like Jones Jr., and frontcourt wildcards in Hachimura trying to build chemistry on the fly against the .
Los Angeles tips off against on Sunday before turning right around to host the Toronto Raptors on Monday. We will find out very quickly if this makeshift starting five is a temporary band-aid or the grim new reality for a franchise desperately trying to stop the bleeding.