The Clippers are on the first night of a back-to-back against Chicago.
The Los Angeles Clippers (33-32) are riding a three-game winning streak heading into Friday night's matchup against the Chicago Bulls (27-39) at Intuit Dome, but they will be without a few key pieces.
Darius Garland has been ruled out with left toe injury management, which is not a surprise since the Clippers have been sitting him on at least one night of every back-to-back set since he made his debut with the team earlier this month.
Clippers Dealing With Key Absences
John Collins remains out as well, and his timeline is still unclear after suffering a neck strain that has kept him sidelined since early March.
Collins initially hurt his neck in a scary fall against the Los Angeles Lakers back in late January and then re-aggravated the injury against the New Orleans Pelicans on March 1, so the team has been extra cautious with him.
He was able to resume on-court work earlier this week, but he is expected to miss at least another week of action while he continues to recover.
Bradley Beal is done for the year after hip surgery, and rookie Yanic Konan Niederhauser is also out for the season with a foot injury, which rounds out the full injury list for Los Angeles.
Kris Dunn is the likely starter at point guard in Garland's place, a role he has filled before this season when Garland has been unavailable, but look for Kobe Sanders to get some time there as well.
Kawhi Leonard Carrying the Load
Despite the injuries around him, Kawhi Leonard has been playing some of the best basketball of his career and is a big reason why the Clippers have climbed all the way back from a 6-21 start to the season.
Leonard is averaging 28.3 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 3.8 assists per game this season, and he just dropped 45 points on 15-of-20 shooting in Wednesday night's 153-128 blowout win over the Minnesota Timberwolves.
That victory made the Clippers the first team in NBA history to climb above .500 after falling at least 15 games below it in the same season, which is a pretty incredible turnaround.
Bennedict Mathurin has been a huge part of the resurgence too, and he gives the Clippers a reliable second scoring option even when Garland is out of the lineup.
Bulls Struggling on the Road
As for the Bulls, they come into this one on the second night of a back-to-back after losing 142-130 to the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night, so fatigue could be a real factor for Chicago.
The Bulls have gone just 3-7 on the second night of back-to-backs this season and have dropped 14 of their last 17 games overall, making this a tough spot for them to pull off an upset.
Matas Buzelis has been the bright spot for Chicago and is the team's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game in his second season, and he is coming off a career-high 41-point game against the Golden State Warriors earlier this week.
The Clippers should have a solid chance to keep their winning streak alive on Friday, especially with the Bulls playing tired legs on a back-to-back and Los Angeles still having Leonard healthy and locked in.
If the Clippers can keep stacking wins, they have a real shot at climbing out of the play-in picture and into a more comfortable playoff spot down the stretch.
Tip-off is set for 10:30 p.m. ET.