INGLEWOOD — Giving up 117 points in each of their past two games was cause for alarm for Clippers coach Tyronn Lue. He was so bothered by the team’s defensive lapses, he uncharacteristically addressed the team after Wednesday’s 122-117 victory over the short-handed Houston Rockets.
“I usually don’t do a lot of talking after the game, but I did just to tell them we gotta get back to our defensive identity,” Lue said. “We kind of let our guards down because of guys being out or whatever. … We can’t do that. Our identity every single night has got to be defense.
“We got to have that mentality when we step on the floor. I think we may be lacking, so we just go to be better with that.”
The Clippers’ defense has been the foundation of the team’s success this season. Often, when their offense has struggled, they could count on their defense to remain competitive game to game.
The Clippers have ranked among the top teams in the league in defensive rating all season. They are currently third, limiting opponents to 109.3 points per game. Their ability to lock down teams was most recently on display when they held the Orlando Magic to 87 points on 30-of-76 shooting (39%) in a March 31 road win.
But lately the Clippers have shown signs of slippage in the defensive identity they have forged from the beginning of the season.
In their past two games, the Clippers allowed 117 points to the San Antonio Spurs, who didn’t have either Victor Wembanyama or De’Aaron Fox, and the Houston Rockets, who sat five of their top six scorers on Wednesday night.
All-Star guard James Harden said he couldn’t remember exactly when the team began to ease up defensively (“It’s kind of foggy”) but knows it’s important they return to what has gotten them this far.
The Clippers (48-32) head into Friday night’s road game against the Play-In bound Sacramento Kings (39-41) with a chance to solidify their chances of finishing the regular season as one of the top six teams in the Western Conference standings. They were in fifth place going into Thursday’s games.
They close the regular season with a road game against the Golden State Warriors (47-33) on Sunday afternoon.
“Friday is going to be another tough game for us and we’re just trying to find ways to win,” Harden said. “But we know our backbone and what our identity is – the defensive end. So, we (need to) just watch film and get better and be ready to go Friday.”
Kawhi Leonard said refocusing their attention on defense is “very important” as they head into the postseason.
“I mean, that’s how you win games – on the defensive end, getting easy baskets in transition, rebounding the ball after they miss once and it is a bigger part of what we do,” Leonard said.
“I think we did a pretty good job with Dallas, but we don’t have time to have slippage with missing coverages and things like that. But if guys get hot and we’re doing what we’re doing, then that’s a different story.”
CLIPPERS AT KINGS
When: Friday, 7 p.m.
Where: Golden 1 Center, Sacramento
TV/radio: FDSN SoCal, 1150 AM