Given the fact that the Portland Trail Blazers were hit by injuries like no other team so far, there is no doubt that the franchise’s front-office is very content that the team is still in the race for home-court advantage in the Western Conference. Thus, Brandon Roy and company will make their way to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers at Staples Center on Tuesday at 3:30 a.m. GMT. 

While Portland lived up to everyone’s expectations so far, the Clippers did not get off to the start the franchise was hoping for. After all, L.A. was hoping to establish itself in the playoff mix right from the start of the season, yet they struggled to get there. Nonetheless, it should be noted that number one overall pick Blake Griffin is still out with a knee injury and could help the team to make a push when he returns to the floor in January. One issue thus far has been the Clippers’ inability to find the basket on a consistent basis as they rank near the bottom of the league with just 95 points per contest. That said, one bright spot has been the performance of starting center Chris Kaman who put up 20.0 points, 9.1 rebounds, 1.8 assists and 1.3 blocks per game.  

In contrast, the Blazers started this year’s NBA campaign worried about not having enough playing time for everyone, arguably having the deepest bench in the league back then. However, things have changed and Nate McMillan’s squad is severely shorthanded after they lost Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Travis Outlaw and Rudy Fernandez due to various injuries. Especially the absence of Oden and Przybilla caused a lot of problems for the Trail Blazers as they are left without a starting center and had to rely on the efforts of rookie Jeff Pendergraph as of late. On the other end of the floor LaMarcus Aldridge is having another solid year, averaging 16.3 points, 8.0 rebounds and 1.8 assists per contest. Taking said circumstances into account, it looks like the encounter between the Clippers and Blazers might still be anyone’s game. Albeit Portland is slightly better overall, it remains to be seen whether they will be able to contain L.A.’s capable front-court featuring Chris Kaman, Marcus Camby and DeAndre Jordan. 

You can watch all games of the Portland Trail Blazers and Los Angeles Clippers right here on www.watchlivenba.com, the home of NBA live streaming.