The Clippers practiced again at home on Wednesday, three days before Saturday’s game in Vancouver. Bradley Beal is still not doing five-on-five work. This Clippers practice report covers that news, Tyronn Lue’s push for more pace and fewer wasted possessions, rookie Baba Miller’s extra work after practice and how Darius Garland is working with Keaton Wagler. Garland, Lue and Wagler all spoke after Wednesday’s session, and the full availability is embedded below.
For the Toronto matchup itself, including Kawhi Leonard’s status, see our Clippers vs Raptors preview. This report covers the practice-floor news since then.
Bradley Beal Still Out of Five-on-Five
Beal did not take part in five-on-five work on Wednesday and did individual player-development work instead, according to Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. The Clippers said Wednesday that Beal’s right knee inflammation is still being managed. There is no timeline, and he has not been cleared for full-contact practice.
That matters because Beal has played very little over the past year. Hip surgery after a fracture limited him to six games for the Clippers last season, and he re-signed on a two-year deal this summer. He sat out the preseason opener in Honolulu, as we noted in our game-day report.
Beal has said the hip is no longer the issue. He told the Orange County Register that he was “100% scared” the first time he shot a layup after the surgery, but he can now run and jump without pain. “I have no doubts at all,” Beal said. “I can still do my step-backs. I can dunk a basketball.” The knee is the issue now. Until he does five-on-five work, it is hard to see him playing in Vancouver. The Clippers have not ruled him out.
Lue’s Mandate: Pace, Cuts and the Numbers Game
After reviewing film of the 104-101 win over Golden State, Lue had a clear list. The Clippers need to play faster, even when opponents press, and take better care of the ball after a turnover-heavy opener.
“(We also need to) just be sharp and quick with our cuts off the ball,” Lue said, per the Orange County Register. “We kind of walked through certain things, but we gotta do it with pace and with speed. So, we got to keep getting better at that as well.”
His bigger point was about possessions. “We just got to do what we do, be who we are, play how we need to play to be effective,” Lue said. “We got to win the numbers game as far as getting more possessions, whether offensive rebounds, taking care of the basketball, things like that.”
That fits what Lue has said since the start of camp. In Hawaiʻi, he raised concerns about how a smaller team would rebound, as we covered in our Day 2 camp report. With a smaller roster, the Clippers’ path to winning games is extra possessions: offensive rebounds, steals and fewer turnovers.
Max Strus: The Full Timeline
The Register added a detail to the Strus diagnosis we covered in our Strus injury update. With a partially torn right plantar fascia, he is expected to miss about four weeks in total, including the first two weeks of the regular season. The team has said he will be reevaluated in four weeks, so that is a checkup date, not a confirmed return date.
Lue explained what the Clippers lose. “He’s also a guy who’s shot-ready at all times,” Lue said. “When he’s on the floor, guys have to stand closer to him. There’s more spacing. His movement, he knows how to play the game off the ball, on the ball. So, we’re going to miss that tremendously. We just got to figure out ways to do it correctly.”
Baba Miller Keeps Pushing
Earlier this week, after most players had gone to the locker room, rookie Baba Miller stayed on the court shooting threes. He made several in a row before finishing with a dunk that caught Garland’s attention from courtside, according to the Register. Miller, a 6-foot-11 forward from Spain with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, was the No. 36 pick out of Cincinnati. He had nine points and six rebounds in 20 minutes against the Warriors.
“I feel like every day I’m taking steps in the right direction, working hard, trying to get better,” Miller said. “And I’m going to keep doing that.”
He knows what he needs to improve. “I feel like my body’s going to be very important,” Miller said. “Just being able to hit and play physically against guys my size, that’s going to be very important. Then condition it to running a lot up and down at a very fast pace.” With Yanic Konan Niederhauser recovering from a foot injury, Miller has a chance at frontcourt minutes in Vancouver.
Garland and Wagler
Wagler, a leading candidate to replace Strus in the starting lineup, also spoke after Wednesday’s practice. He scored 15 points and hit the go-ahead jumper in his preseason debut, though he shot 3-of-15. Garland, also a former No. 5 overall pick, has been working with him every day.
“It’s going to be a lot of bumps and bruises throughout the entire season, but you have to get past it. You just have to push through it,” Garland said of Wagler at Media Day. “I’m trying to install some confidence in Keaton… Everybody’s going to make mistakes out of 82 games, so just want him to carry it (confidence) with him.” He added that “He teaches me a lot and I teach him a lot.”
Injury List Heading to Vancouver
- Max Strus (right plantar fascia, partial tear): out; reevaluation in four weeks.
- Bradley Beal (right knee inflammation): not in five-on-five work; status unclear.
- Brandon Ingram (right Achilles, partial tear): recovering from surgery; out for the start of the season.
- Yanic Konan Niederhauser (foot): out.
- Jordan Miller (left shoulder surgery): out.
- Kobe Sanders (left hip impingement): no timetable.
Watch: Clippers Practice Availability (10/7)
Hear from Darius Garland, Tyronn Lue (at 5:20) and Keaton Wagler (at 12:19) after Wednesday’s practice, on the Clippers’ official channel:
Schedule
- Saturday, Oct. 10: vs. Toronto, Rogers Arena, Vancouver, 3:30 p.m. PT
- Wednesday, Oct. 14: vs. Denver, Intuit Dome
- Wednesday, Oct. 21: regular-season opener vs. Sacramento, Intuit Dome
After Vancouver, only a few preseason games remain before the opener. That is little time to settle a starting five without Strus, Beal or Ingram, which makes faster play, better ball security and Miller’s development more important.
Want the pressers and practice reports first? Subscribe to Infanity TV on YouTube.
