Tyronn Lue sat with his arms crossed, his voice steady and his message clear about his displeasure with how the Clippers provoked him with their recent performances and how they all have to look in the mirror to fix their problems.
It was more than just the 122-97 beatdown by the Lakers on Tuesday night at the Intuit Dome that had Lue upset. It was the way his group played in the last three games that had the Clippers coach in a rare moment of ripping his players.
“And we’ve been good, so I can’t be, you know, all the way upset,” Lue said. “But the last three games have really pissed me off.”
The Clippers were down by 31 points to the Lakers at one point, just the latest performance Lue took issue with.
He also pointed to the Clippers’ win over Charlotte and their loss at Toronto.
“We’re just not getting off to good starts,” Lue said. “So, we’re not locking in defensively. Like 45 points in the first quarter [for the Lakers], like that’s just way too many. And so we got to take pride in guarding.
“That’s who we’ve been all season long and now the last three games we’ve kind of let our guards down and this is what happens. So, we’ve got to be better. We’ve got to look at ourselves in the mirror and think about do we want to win or not. That’s got to be our mentality. And so three games in a row we come out with not a great defensive performance and it’s just not putting enough into the game. Even on the offensive end, not putting a lot into the game. And so when that happens you get blown out like we did tonight.”
The Lakers shot 54.9% from the field and 48.6% from three-point range. This was against a stellar Clippers defense that was ranked third in the NBA in points given up (107.2) and second in defensive efficiency (106.2) entering the game.
“Focus, um, intensity, effort. Whatever you want to call it,” Lue said. “We’re not bringing it. So, we have to fix that.”
Kawhi Leonard had just 11 points on four-for-11 shooting.
LeBron James of the Lakers battles for a loose ball with Clippers Kris Dunn (foreground) and James Harden.
(Wally Skalij / Los Angeles Times)
He was asked why effort has been a problem for the Clippers in recent games.
“I don’t know,” Leonard said. “It’s hard to say. We all get paid to play this game and leave it all on the floor. So, I’m not sure.”
Leonard still is limited in his minutes. He played just 22:26. But at least he talked to the media after the game.
James Harden left without speaking to the media. He had just seven points, missed 10 of 12 shots and was minus-16 in almost 30 minutes.
The Clippers were coming off a four-game trip over eight days but refused to use that as an excuse.
“We have to, like T-Lue said, look ourselves in the mirror first and be able to come out here and do our job,” Leonard said. “That’s where it starts. Can’t look over the shoulder for help with those things about playing hard.”
With his team down 25 with 6:58 left, Lue had seen enough. He pulled his starters. Two of the players who entered were Patty Mills and Drew Eubanks, acquired Saturday from the Utah Jazz for Mo Bamba, P.J. Tucker, a 2030 second-round draft pick and cash considerations.
Lue spoke highly about Mills and Eubanks.
“Two solid guys that you love to have on your team,” Lue said. “Plays the right way. Plays hard, competes.”
The NBA trade deadline is Thursday, more than enough time for the Clippers to make another move. With that in mind, Lue was asked if the Clippers have enough to make a deep run.
“Yeah, I do feel that way,” Lue said. “Once we’re able to get Kawhi’s minutes to where we need to get them to, and he’s 100%, meaning timing, meaning just condition-wise, we can make a run. We can beat anyone, any time. We also, if we don’t play the right way, we could lose to any team. So, we do have enough in the locker room to win games and go deep in the playoffs. And, so, we’ve just got to have the right mindset, play for each other and anything can happen.”