Redick returns as 76ers visit Clippers

LOS ANGELES -- JJ Redick, exactly the kind of scorer the Los Angeles Clippers could use right about now, will set foot back into Staples Center on Monday night.

A member of the 76ers, though, Redick now is in position to continue his former team's recent misery as Philadelphia clashes with the Clippers in Los Angeles. The Clippers have won 12 of the last 15 in the matchup.

Inconsistencies, as well as injuries at the guard position, have the Clippers on a five-game losing streak, including three consecutive on a just-completed road trip to San Antonio, Oklahoma City and New Orleans.

The Sixers are having their own road issues, having lost two straight on their current West Coast swing, although the general sense is they let one slip away against the NBA champion Golden State Warriors on Saturday.

Somebody will be able to get back on track Monday, and the Sixers are confident they will be headed in the right direction again. Philadelphia had won five consecutive games before losing last week first to the Sacramento Kings and then to the Warriors.

"We will be better prepared," Sixers forward Robert Covington said, according to the Philadelphia Inquirer. "We have an idea how they are going to play. And we are (going to make) it be a different outcome."

Redick, the Clippers' record-holder for most 3-pointers in a season at 201, is primed to do his part for the Sixers (6-6). He led Philadelphia in scoring against Golden State with 17 points, and at 15.6 points per game, he is one of four Philadelphia players averaging 15 or more.

Under normal circumstances, the Clippers would attempt to neutralize Redick by using the defense of Patrick Beverley, but Beverley is dealing with a sore right knee and his stats for Monday's game is uncertain. Clippers point guard Milos Teodosic is also dealing with a plantar fasciitis injury, suffered in the home opener on Oct. 21.

In addition to those injuries, the Clippers were also without Danilo Gallinari (strained left gluteal muscle) when they were defeated by the Pelicans on Saturday. Sixers guard Nik Stauskas is day-to-day with an ankle injury, while guards Jerryd Bayless (wrist) and Markelle Fultz (shoulder) are out indefinitely.

In addition to their injuries, frustrations also are starting to mount for the Clippers. They received three technical fouls at New Orleans, including one to head coach Doc Rivers in the fourth quarter. Assistant coach Sam Cassell also received a fourth-quarter technical. Guard Austin Rivers had the other technical.

"As far as techs go, I don't know," Austin Rivers said, according to the Los Angeles Times. "Some tough calls didn't go our way. We felt a certain way about the way we were getting touched out there. Some games you get the whistle, some games you don't. The past couple of games we felt like it has been rough. ... It's just that we're human. I'm not going to put it on the refs."

The bright side among the injuries in the backcourt for the Clippers is that rookies Sindarius Thornwell and Jawun Evans are getting valuable experience. Thornwell started the last two games for the Clippers, with Beverly out of action. Evans was drafted by the Sixers this year before his rights were traded to the Clippers.

For the Sixers, they can take solace in the fact that they were tied with the Warriors in the second half Saturday, before the defending champions flipped the switch on them. But keeping games close isn't what they are looking for.

"There are parts of (the Warriors game) that I think you will find positives in, but we feel like we're past that," Sixers coach Brett Brown said, according to the Philadephia Inquirer.