The Clippers have played four games in seven days. In 10 games this season, they’ve played three sets of back-to-backs.
Before Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told his players they can’t afford to buy into their circumstances.
Despite blowing a 14-point lead, the Clippers put Lue’s words into action and overcame James Harden and Norman Powell missing key free throws down the stretch in a 105-103 victory at the Intuit Dome that extended their winning streak to four games.
Harden had 24 points but missed a free throw with 28.7 seconds left, forcing the Clippers to cling to a two-point lead.
Powell had 24 points but missed a free throw with 35.5 seconds left. He then missed another one with 8.1 seconds left that kept it a one-possession game.
But the Clippers hung on after Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl missed a nine-foot putback after he intentionally missed a free throw with 6.2 seconds left. Ivica Zubac grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Harden, who threw the ball the length of the court as time expired.
Before the game, Lue encouraged his players to continue playing stellar defense and to do a better job of taking care of the basketball.
“Just being mentally tough,” Lue said. “Can’t give into fatigue. You can’t give into the schedule. Just take it one game at a time.”
Clippers guard Kris Dunn celebrates after dunking against the Raptors in the first half Saturday.
(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
Though the Clippers are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, Lue said they would be better if they did not allow transition points off turnovers.
Entering Saturday, the Clippers have allowed an average of 106.7 points per game, the second-best mark in the NBA. The Clippers rank fourth in defensive rating (107.9).
But the Clippers also are giving up 16.3 turnovers per game, tied with Toronto for the second-worst mark in the league entering Saturday.
“If we just take care of the basketball, I think a lot of nights we’ll be able to win games because we’re getting shots on goals,” Lue said. “But if you are having 19, 20 turnovers every night, it’s hard to win those games because your defense has to be elite, which it has been so far. But we can’t continue to lay our hat on our defense every single night and turn the ball over, letting teams get out, get easy points in transition. … If we get to that 10, 12 range, I mean, we are a different team.”
The Clippers turned the ball over 12 times against the Raptors.
And they built a double-digit lead for the 10th straight game — and once again, the Clippers let that lead slip.
Etc: Lue was asked if Kawhi Leonard, who hasn’t played this season because of inflammation in his right knee, would travel with the Clippers on their three-game trip that opens Monday against Oklahoma City. He was short with his answer.
“Uh, no,” Lue said.