LA Clippers to tangle with familiar faces in Memphis

Familiar faces will be the order of the day when the Clippers visit the Memphis Grizzlies on Saturday for a 5 p.m. game (on Prime Ticket). The Grizzlies now have former Clippers Matt Baes and Lance Stephenson, the Clippers now have Jeff Green, for whom Stephenson was traded in February.

Baes and Stephenson have been playing well for the Grizzlies (39-30), and Clippers coach Doc Rivers has noticed.

“They’re playing great,” Rivers said. “You hope they play well. They were part of your franchise, so you want them to do well.”

But ...

“You just don’t want them to do well against you,” he said.

Rivers knows that’s what Baes and Stephenson must have in mind, though, and Rivers suggested that’s just human nature.

“I was a player, too,” Rivers said. “And whenever you’re traded, you want to do well against your old team and your old team wants to do well against you. That never changes.”

Baes is averaging 16 points, 8.2 rebounds and 3.8 assists over his past five games. Stephenson has averaged 23.5 points, 8.3 rebounds and 5.8 assists over his past four games.

As for Green, he has averaged 10.3 points in 13 games since coming to the Clippers. His high game was 23 points in a 120-108 loss March 9 at Oklahoma City. Green, who played parts of the past two seasons with Memphis, said he’s not entering this game like he has to show something to the team that traded him away.

“I’ve got nothing to prove,” Green said. “At the end of the day I know it’s a business, so I don’t hold anything against anybody. Only thing I come into the game is just trying to win.”

No playoff preview

If the season were to end right now, the Clippers (43-24) and Grizzlies would play one another in the first round of the Weste Conference playoffs as the Clippers are in fourth place and the Grizzlies are in fifth.

But Rivers said this is not a playoff preview because both teams figure to look different than they currently do because of injuries. The Clippers will have power forward Blake Griffin (quad, hand) back for the postseason and the Grizzlies should have back power forward Zach Randolph (sore knee) and point guard Mike Conley (Achilles’ tendinitis).

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“At the end of the day, you just come out and play each individual game right now and the playoffs will be a different beast,” Rivers said. “Memphis is a playoff-type team. They’re rugged, they’re tough, so you have to be ready for that.

“But to be honest, there is no thought (about the playoffs) going into that tomorrow night, I can tell you that.”

Feeling for Griffin, Gasol

Speaking of injuries, Memphis center Marc Gasol (foot) is out for the season. He leads the Grizzlies with a 16.6 scoring average. That means neither team’s leading scorer will play Saturday; Griffin leads the Clippers with a 23.2 average.

Rivers said he understands the emotions Griffin and Gasol must be experiencing. Griffin hasn’t played since Christmas night.

“It’s not fun not playing,” he said. “I’ve been through it and you want to play. That’s what you’ve done your whole life. As good as it is for us – we get to play every day, I get to work every day - and Blake and Marc Gasol and guys like that, they’re out. That’s no fun for players.”