LOS ANGELES — The All-Star break seemingly disrupted whatever rhythm the Clippers had created in the first four-plus months evidenced by their uneven play in their first two games back. They were dismantled by the Oklahoma City Thunder and needed a strong fourth-quarter effort to beat the Memphis Grizzlies.
Their third game was just as bumpy.
The Clippers couldn’t overcome the Sacramento Kings or their own disjointed play Sunday and lost, 123-107, at Crypto.com Arena.
The loss left the Clippers (37-19) two-and-a-half games behind Western Conference co-leaders the Minnesota Timberwolves and the Thunder, who both are 40-17.
“After a break, you lose your flow, what you’ve been doing leading up to that point,” Lue said. “So, coming off the break with a back-to-back, was tough, but like I said, we got through it and now we’ve got to lock in for these home games.
“Now we’re home and get back to doing what we do on both sides of the basketball. We just got to lock in for these guys 27 games.”
Being back in Crypto.com Arena did little to smooth out the rough spots. They turned over the ball 16 times, connected on just 8 of 26 shots from the 3-point range, were outrebounded and gave up double digits to five Kings players, led by De’Aaron Fox’s 33 points and Domantas Sabonis’ triple-double. Sabonis finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds and 12 assists.
Harrison Barnes scored 22 points, Kevin Hueter added 15 points and Malik Monk had 12.
The Clippers were led by Norman Powell’s 21 points and Kawhi Leonard and James Harden, who each scored 20 points. Harden also had eight assists and five rebounds.
The Clippers dominated the Kings in their first two meetings this season, but Sacramento found a way to turn it around Sunday. Kings coach Mike Brown expected another tough game from the Clippers and for a stretch in the second half, the Clippers made it a contest.
“I just want to see our effort at a high level while we’re executing things the right way offensively and trying to communicate and scramble defensively,” Brown said before the game.
He didn’t have to wait around long to see the game plan in action.
The Kings led by as many as seven at the end of the first half and stretched it to 15 early in the third quarter on an 8-0 run.
The Kings’ lead ballooned to 18 points, 82-64, with 4:45 left in the third before the Clippers staged a comeback. Behind three 3-pointers by Powell and a thundering dunk by reserve center Daniel Theis, the trimmed the lead to 87-80 before Harrison Barnes added two free throws in the final minute to take an 89-80 lead in the final quarter.
The Clippers, however, kept the pressure on the Kings, cutting their lead to five, 89-84, on a running layup by Harden. The Clippers continued to stay within reach but in the end couldn’t overtake the Kings, who seemed to have answers for every run their opponents made.
Some of the Clippers’ lack of cohesion could have been tied to Lue’s decision to expand his rotation during the final stretch heading into the playoffs, “just to see something different.”
For instance, Powell, who missed the previous game because of a sprained ankle, returned and got his first start in place of Paul George. George sat out his fourth game of the season because of a sore left knee.
Amir Coffey, who normally gets the start in place of an injured starter, came off the bench, while Lue gave P.J. Tucker had another opportunity to log minutes after playing in his first game since Nov. 27 against Memphis. Theis also saw his first minutes in two weeks.
“Going into the playoffs you never know what you’re going to need and how you’re going to have to play and so just seeing different lineups,” Lue said. “This is the opportunity to start Norm when PG’s out. There might be another opportunity when Kawhi is out one time. So, just trying to see how it looks and just trying to gather as much information as we can going into the playoffs.”
Now, the Clippers have two days off before facing the Lakers on Wednesday and Lue said they will use that time to simply “get better.”
“Just to make sure we understand what we need to do on offense and what we need to do on defense and continue to keep getting better,” Lue said. “We’ve had some slippage on both sides of the ball as far as what we need to do, so these two practice days we will use to get better and hopefully get back on track to the way we’ve been playing before.”