The Clippers are under .500 after three straight losses, but coach Tyronn Lue won’t entertain any thoughts of panic, writes Broderick Turner of The Los Angeles Times. “Sky is not falling, or nothing like that,” Lue told reporters before today’s practice.
L.A. has one of the most talented rosters in the league and is considered among the favorites to win the Western Conference. Injuries have factored into the slow start, but Lue’s emphasis is on doing basic things correctly, regardless of who’s on the court.
“My message is just play the right way, create good habits,” he said. “You are not going to win every game, but we got to play better and we understand that. But my biggest thing is just creating good habits. If we do it on both sides of the basketball, we will be fine.”
The Clippers are coming off consecutive losses to the rebuilding Thunder, which is concerning in what could be a tight race for the top spot in the West. However, the players understand there are a lot of games left to turn things around.
“Obviously, we want to win and every game is important for us,” Luke Kennard said. “We want to be a high seed in the West at the end of the regular season. So, I think if we have that sense of urgency right now, taking it one game at a time, it’s going to help us with that. But at the same time, like I said, with guys kind of being in and out, you still have to be patient and just trust in what we’re doing and what we’re kind of building here.”
There’s more on the Clippers:
- Kawhi Leonard will sit out his third straight game Sunday as part of injury management for his surgically repaired right knee, per Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. Leonard felt stiffness in the knee during the morning shootaround before Tuesday’s game at Oklahoma City. He returned to L.A. for treatment and didn’t play on Thursday. Sunday’s game will be the first of a back-to-back, and Leonard has said he probably won’t play both games in those situations.
- Paul George admits his “window is shrinking” to be an NBA champion, so he’s determined to make the most of this opportunity, Youngmisuk adds in a separate story. “I’m more focused than I ever been,” said George, who’s in his 13th NBA season. “You talk about locked in, I am locked into this year. I mean that’s what you’re going to get, a leader and just whatever it takes. That’s always been my attitude and the spirit I carry. I’m prepared and understand what the assignment is this year. Winning it all.”
- Robert Covington has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and will miss Sunday’s game, Turner tweets.
Exactly
Clippers know how to build up the most talented roster. Lakers don’t
Lakers are all about history, not future
Lakers don’t know how to create good habits of playing defense either
What has that most talented roster win the Clippers exactly?
They will be in the playoffs with some good luck this time have a chance to make some noise ! The lakers are more likely then not to miss the playoffs and have to hope they don’t send the pelicans a top two pick !
Also lakers are all alone as the only team with no victories this season
The Lakers could have a great team of all they traded away. Minnesota is going to regret the Utah trade as well.
It will be interesting to see how Kawhi comes back defensively. Guys in their 30s coming off ACLs usually bounce back offensively but not on the other end (see: Thompson, Klay, et al)
A large part of what made Kawhi a top 10 player was the 2 way nature of his game. He was never an elite playmaker on the level of Bron or Luka or Beard, so if he becomes just an average defender I think that lowers both his ceiling as a franchise guy as well as the aspirations of LAC as a contender.
Butch Beard
I think Lue secretly likes the fact that KL’s availability is game to game. Keeps the focus on his coaching moves. A team with a real identity, and a strong culture supporting it, could easily find him annoying.
The issue with the LAC this season (so far) is they have too many rotation on the floor and that gives no rytham to shooters – and thus they strugle (so far). Once coach decides who is doing what and when they will be way better. However, still missing back-up big to be a true contender. They should trade Wall+ for athletic big.