The Portland Trail Blazers play host to the Los Angeles Clippers at Moda Center on Monday.

The Clippers (12-12) come into this matchup losing four of their last five games. The previous three losses have been really disturbing, though, losing to the Sacramento Kings twice and the New Orleans Pelicans once. Those are teams that the Clippers should handle easily, and it has fans wondering if this is truly a playoff team. Missing a guy like Kawhi Leonard (knee) can't be overlooked, and it's becoming abundantly clear that Paul George can't do it all by himself. Guys like Reggie Jackson and Nicolas Batum have been solid, but players like Eric Bledsoe, Terance Mann and Ivica Zubac have been way too inconsistent. The good news is that Serge Ibaka and Marcus Morris just returned from injury, giving this team some much-needed depth.

The Trail Blazers (11-13) are dealing with some injuries themselves, missing one of the best point guards in the NBA. That happens to be Damian Lillard, with the superstar out for the next week due to an abductor issue. He's been hampered by that all year, and it's led to career-lows in field goal percentage and three-point percentage. That would be enough to deter this club, but Anfernee Simons and C.J. McCollum suffering injuries in the last two games has absolutely crippled this backcourt. That's simply way too much to overcome because guys like Robert Covington and Jusuf Nurkic can't carry this team on their own.

Los Angeles won the season series over Portland last year, 2-1. That gives the Clippers eight wins in their last nine meetings with the Trail Blazers, dating back to 2019.