Where do the Clippers go from here?
Onto the next game, of course.
The Clippers are opting to look forward and not back to Wednesday night’s spectacular collapse against the Lakers, watching as LeBron James nearly single-handedly overcame a 21-point deficit in the fourth quarter en route to a 116-112 victory.
“It’s over. You know, it’s one game,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “Play well for three quarters, didn’t finish the game. You know, I never like to let one loss, or a bad loss, take away what we’ve been doing and what we built. So, you know, it’s a tough loss because we, you know, (were) up 21 points. But this is a good team.
“And when you don’t take care of the basketball and you don’t do what you’re supposed to do, you know, you’re going to lose. We can see that, you know. But the game is over. We got to get ready for the Wizards game on Friday. As tough as loss may be, you know, it’s over.”
The Clippers (37-20) seemingly have lost their way since the All-Star break, losing three of their past four games, and two in a row for the first time since Dec. 23. Friday night’s game against Washington (9-49) might be the panacea they need.
But nothing will erase the memory of their latest loss, which dropped them further behind the Western Conference-leading Minnesota Timberwolves. The Clippers are in fourth place, four games behind the Timberwolves and 3½ games behind the second-place Oklahoma City Thunder.
But with 25 games remaining, the Clippers have bigger issues than chasing a higher seed. The loss to the Lakers left them with a lot to unpack – turnovers, defensive breakdowns and stagnant offensive sets.
The Lakers outscored the Clippers 18-2 off of turnovers in the final quarter and scored 30 points off of 14 Clippers turnovers overall. The Lakers also had 31 fast-break points, connecting on all 14 shots they attempted on the break.
The Clippers, who played without All-Star Paul George and starting center Ivica Zubac, also shot just 4 for 24 from 3-point range in three quarters and missed six of their seven attempts from behind the arc in the fourth. Terance Mann said the Clippers failed to make simple reads, something they “aren’t making right now.”
All-Star Kawhi Leonard said failures like this “shouldn’t happen.”
“We had control of the game pretty much throughout the three quarters and then we got pretty stagnant, turned over the ball in that second half a little bit and they capitalized on it,” Leonard said. “I think they scored like 20-some points off of nine turnovers in the second half, so we got to do better get back in transition if we do turn it over.”
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While there were assorted reasons for the loss – besides James’ 19 fourth-quarter points and five 3-pointers – Lue said as coach, the bulk of the responsibility is on him.
But James Harden and others said they are all accountable for the loss.
“It’s on all of us. We are in this together, you know what I mean?” Harden said. “It’s frustrating. You can’t be up 18 points at home and give away a win, especially this time of the year. It’s that simple.”
Harden said that while teams want to win every night, it’s not reality.
“We just try to focus on game by game,” he said. “And then even smaller than that, possession by possession. Like tonight, it was a tough one, but I think throughout the course of the game, for the most part, we played pretty well. So, we’ll watch film, get better and be ready to go next game.”
WIZARDS AT CLIPPERS
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Crypto.com Arena
TV/radio: Bally Sports SoCal, 570 AM