It’s a long season and one loss won’t define what the Clippers will be like after another 78 games.
But Tuesday’s low-scoring and low-energy defeat to the more energetic Golden State Warriors exposed several areas of concern, namely another slow start, poor shooting and possibly their age.
After coming back from a 15-point deficit in the first half, James Harden (37 years old), who spurred the comeback with 20 points in the first two quarters, and Kawhi Leonard (34) came out of the game in the third quarter because of fatigue, according to Coach Tyronn Lue, allowing the Warriors to attack and overwhelm the Clippers’ second unit.
“Kawhi and James in that third quarter got tired at the same time, so they both came out and it kind of snowballed from there,” Lue told reporters after the game. “But (the Warriors) played well defensively. I thought they played us pretty well. We didn’t attack the way we wanted to attack, and it made us a little stagnant.”
The Clippers also didn’t shoot well, making just 36.6% from the field and 18% from 3-point range (6 for 33).
“Early on in the game, we got really good shots that we didn’t make, and then we stopped trusting,” Lue said. “One pass, shot. One pass, shot. I thought we stopped trusting.”
They regained their trust late in the first half to take a 49-46 lead at intermission but fell back into worrisome habits at the start of the third quarter and were outscored 32-14 en route to their lowest-scoring game in four seasons.
“We could never get it back,” Lue said after the Warriors handed them a 98-79 loss.
Not helping matters, oft-injured Bradley Beal missed his second consecutive game with a sore lower back and Bogdan Bogdanovic filled in as a starter in both games. Bogdanovic has produced little in his two games, which has hurt the Clippers’ offense and put them “in a tough bind,” Lue said.
“I think teams are trying to pressure us more, but we are missing a key component, which is Bradley Beal, who gives us a shooter, a guy who can play-make, a guy who can handle the basketball as well. And so, when you add that to the mix, it does make us better,” Lue said.
The Clippers (2-2) will have a good chance at righting some of their wrongs on Friday night when they take on the winless New Orleans Pelicans at the Intuit Dome, an opportunity to get off to a fast start and hang on for a third consecutive home victory.
The Pelicans (0-4) are coming off a 34-point loss in Denver. The Nuggets limited power forward Zion Williamson to 11 points, no rebounds, two assists, one block and three turnovers. Williamson had missed the previous game because of a foot issue.
The Clippers have home victories against the Phoenix Suns and Portland Trail Blazers while going winless with blowout losses at Utah and Golden State.
PELICANS AT CLIPPERS
When: Friday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Intuit Dome
TV/radio: FDSN SoCal/1150 AM
