By the skin of their teeth

After leaving the Atlanta Hawks’ carcass all over the floor with a dominating 150-101 win on Sunday, the Los Angeles Clippers followed it up with a nail-biter. Tuesday’s 90-88 victory against the Oklahoma City Thunder was an escape act, as they got by through Paul George’s go-ahead three with only 25.9 ticks remaining. George, who entered the contest with 70 points on just 44 minutes of action across two games, scored 18 points against his former team.

Will we finally see Kawhi and PG together on the floor?

George missed the team’s first 11 games with a shoulder injury, and just as he made his debut, Kawhi Leonard sat out consecutive games due to knee problems (and load management, probably).

The constant cliffhanger, of course, only heightened the anticipation for the duo. They are two of the best two-way swingmen in the game, and their offensive skillset is one that can get buckets from anywhere. Leonard is averaging 26.8 points, 8.9 rebounds, 6.0 assists, and 2.1 steals per game in nine outings this season, while George is at 29.3 PPG despite his minute restrictions still in effect (24.3 MPG).

The Clippers are 9-5 on the year. They have only lost one game at home and it was when both Kawhi and PG were both sidelined.

Trying to build another hot streak

The 11-2 Boston Celtics are looking to construct another winning streak. They had their 10-game run halted over the weekend and just started stacking up a new one following a 99-85 win against the Phoenix Suns this past Tuesday.

Jayson Tatum (23.4 PPG) and Kemba Walker (20.2 PPG) are both scoring 20-plus this season, and Jaylen Brown is also on the lookout to join the club. He’s been putting up 21.8 points per game ever since Gordon Hayward went down with a hand injury. Together, the trio should be able to demand a lot from the opposition. Walker’s match-up with the Clipps’ Patrick Beverley is intriguing, as he is not one to get bothered by hounding and trash-talking defenders. Tatum and Brown going against George is like them looking at themselves a few years from now.

Interior defense is where one may put a question mark on the Celtics. With a thin depth on big men, they may have problems countering the Clippers, particularly Montrezl Harrell, who’s quick to make teams pay whenever he gets the opportunity. Harrell’s momentum is up after his 28-point, 13-rebound performance on Tuesday, and he may have the upper hand against Daniel Theis, Enes Kanter, and all the other Celtic bigs.

PREDICTION:

If Kawhi and PG both play, the Clippers should get the win, but if one of the two elect to rest, expect the Celtics to steal the victory.