The Los Angeles Clippers play host to the Memphis Grizzlies at Staples Center on Wednesday.

The Grizzlies (29-27) have been playing some great ball recently, but they suffered a devastating loss on Monday. They actually led by 12 points with three minutes left against the Denver Nuggets but lost in double-overtime. That would have been a heck of a win without Jonas Valanciunas (concussion), but that collapse showed the immaturity of this young team. They actually entered that matchup, winning seven of their previous 10 games before that, with all three losses coming in a narrow fashion as well. That's a good indicator of how well this club is playing right now, and some better late-game execution could have them with a very long winning streak.

The Clippers (41-19) have been one of the best teams in the NBA in the second half, entering this matchup winning 15 of their last 18 games. That's the team we've been waiting to see all year, and it has them in contention for the top seed in the Western Conference. They currently sit 3.5 games back of the Utah Jazz in first, and that's a lot of ground they made up in a one-month span. It's easy to say that Kawhi Leonard and Paul George got them into this position, but the role players have been a huge factor too. Guys like Marcus Morris, Reggie Jackson, Terence Mann, and Ivica Zubac have been huge in this stretch, and it's amazing they've done all this damage with Serge Ibaka rehabbing an injury. Once he's back, this team will only get scarier but they'll have to continue to play well with Kawhi out for at least a week.

These teams played a back-to-back set at the end of February, splitting those two meetings. Before that, the Clippers won seven of their previous nine games over the Grizzlies in this series.