Considering how this season started, it’s a little wild to realize that the Clippers are currently the hottest team in the NBA. Not only has the team won five games in a row entering play on Monday, but they’ve also won 12 of their last 14.
If Los Angeles wants to make that six consecutive victories, it will once again have to get things done without the services of Kawhi Leonard (knee), who has been ruled out for the duration of this three-game Eastern Conference road trip.
Can the Wizards protect home court and slow down the surging Clippers? Let’s preview this 3:00 p.m. ET tilt with the help of some of some odds and lines on the DraftKings Sportsbook.
Clippers at Wizards prediction, preview
The aforementioned Leonard has been amazing for the Clippers in 2025-26, averaging a career-high 28.2 points per game in his 14th NBA season. As such, it should come as little surprise that Los Angeles struggled to pull out a victory against the shorthanded Raptors on Friday, eventually needing overtime to pick up the 121-117 win. James Harden was masterful in his performance, despite shooting just 2-for-15 from three-point range. The former MVP would finish with a 31-point, 10-assist double-double, all while going on a personal 8-0 run in the final three-and-a-half minutes of the fourth quarter to tie up the game. Harden also scored eight of the Clippers’ 12 points in OT.
Across this incredibly successful 14-contest stretch, Los Angeles leads the Western Conference in net rating (+9.6) and offensive rating (121.6). Much of that efficiency can obviously be attributed to the duo of Leonard and Harden, yet that’s not to say there hasn’t been a handful of recent surprises — with Jordan Miller being chief among them. A former second-round pick who came into 2025-26 with fewer than 450 minutes played at the NBA level, Miller has been very solid since joining the Clippers’ rotation in mid-December. In his 20 overall appearances, Miller is shooting 43.9% from three and producing 7.6 points per game. However, in Los Angeles’ last five tilts, Miller is second to only Harden in minutes. Heck, he logged a staggering 45.7 minutes in Toronto. It’s a five-game run where the 25-year-old is putting up 14.8 points a night.
As for the Wizards, this season has turned into yet another uninspiring campaign in a seemingly endless rebuild. Coming into Monday’s action, Washington sits dead-last in the league in wins (10) and net rating (-11.2). That’s not to suggest there hasn’t been some encouraging moments from players that appear to be franchise building blocks in Alex Sarr and Kyshawn George, but for the Wizards, 2025-26 will likely only be remembered from the Trae Young trade — and it still remains unclear when Young will even put on a Washington jersey for the first time.
Since officially acquiring Young on January 9 in a deal that sent away veteran CJ McCollum, the Wizards are 0-5 and are getting outscored by 14.5 points per 100 possessions. Woof.
Clippers at Wizards pick, best bet
Best Bet: James Harden Double-Double: Yes (-101)
Harden’s usage rate rises from 25.3% with Leonard on the floor to an eye-popping 35.3% without him. The veteran should be able to exploit a Wizards team that owns the league’s second-worst defensive rating (120.9).
