Two squads mired in skids at a bad point in the season meet Tuesday night when the Phoenix Suns host the Los Angeles Clippers. The underachieving Suns have lost 11 of their last 14 games and sat four games out of the final Western Conference play-in spot entering Monday's games.

Phoenix and Los Angeles will take the floor in a matchup of Western Conference opponents. Tuesday's meeting is the first this season for the two squads.

Kawhi Leonard had his best game of the season in Sunday’s loss to the Lakers, but James Harden is in a funk and Norman Powell, Derrick Jones Jr. and Ben Simmons are trying to get healthy.

Norman Powell's absences have contributed to a 1-5 record since the All-Star break and the sixth seed in the West seemingly slipping away.

Luka Doncic scores 29 points as the Lakers hold on for a 108-102 victory without Austin Reaves and Rui Hachimura. LeBron James scores 17 points, falling one short of 50,000 for his career.

Clippers head coach Ty Lue was boosted by the return of Norman Powell, who had missed the previous five games due to a knee injury. Powell, playing for the first time since his 41-point explosion in an overtime win on Feb. 13, was expected to provide a much-needed scoring boost.

The Clippers lost both matchups by an average of five points, while Lakers superstar Doncic scored a combined 60 points in the weekend series. Clippers star Kawhi Leonard did all he could in Sunday's loss, recording 33 points and 10 rebounds in 40 minutes, all season-high marks.

Powell was available for the first nine minutes of the game, but he subbed out with 3:13 left as he went to the locker room. The team later announced he will be out for the remainder of the contest due to right hamstring soreness, per ClutchPoints' Tomer Azarly.

The Los Angeles Lakers will try to keep a three-game home win streak alive when the Lakers face the Los Angeles Clippers.