INGLEWOOD — The Clippers got off to a strong start against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night by passing the ball, limiting turnovers and getting back on defense, which led to a 10-point lead after one quarter.
They stretched that margin to 17 points in the early minutes of the second quarter, then all the good things the Clippers had done to begin the game vanished, leaving missed opportunities and questions in the aftermath of a 105-102 loss.
“I thought they did a good job, especially defensively,” Coach Tyronn Lue said of the opening quarter. “I thought (this is) the blueprint of how we want to play, you know, with key guys being out is how we played in the first quarter. I thought we did a really great job of just trusting, moving the basketball, moving bodies. And then we didn’t do so good with that in the second half.”
So, how can the Clippers (3-7) end a losing streak that has reached five games with the Nikola Jokic-led Denver Nuggets arriving at Intuit Dome on Wednesday?
“That’s a good question,” 12-time All-Star guard James Harden said, pausing to consider a good answer.
“We haven’t had any consistency for real. That’s a part of it, too. We have had so many different lineups, so many guys in and out of rotations that I think once we find some consistency, I think that’ll help us out a little bit. Guys are all over the place.
“Some guys haven’t played ever, some guys are just being put in the rotation. Some guys are new here, their first 10 games. That’s a lot that goes into it, so I don’t think we can pinpoint and put our fingerprint on one thing. I think it’s a variety of things that’s happening that hopefully we can come to a halt very soon.”
Lue and the players have shown they can play transition defense and handle the ball in practice, but they have trouble mimicking that in a game. Harden, who had a triple-double against the Hawks, said winning basketball games comes down to paying attention to details.
“Knowing what we’re trying to accomplish on both ends of the court is part of the game,” he said. “Playing hard is one thing. I think everybody plays hard or tries to play hard, but I think the difference between really good teams and teams that aren’t really good is just the detail execution part and that hasn’t been our strong suit, so we just got to find ways to continue to get better at that.”
The Clippers are again trying to keep the season afloat until star forward Kawhi Leonard returns to the lineup. He has missed four games because of a sprained ankle and Lue said the two-time NBA Finals MVP would be out for “the next few games.”
Leonard, who was averaging 24.3 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.5 assists before twisting his ankle, could return for the start of the Clippers’ seven-game road trip that begins Friday in Dallas.
Veteran guard Bradley Beal, another starter, is out indefinitely because of a hip injury.
“It’s a little different because you have time to plan (for his absence) when Kawhi’s out for training camp (as he was last season),” Lue said. “But when it happens throughout the course of the season, it’s a little bit more difficult, so we just got to stay the course.”
Center Ivica Zubac said getting those two players back won’t be the cure-all for what is troubling the Clippers and the players can’t sit around with their fingers crossed until they return.
He said the solution is to dominate the defensive boards and attack in transition. Most of all, they need to communicate.
“These games that we’re losing, they were all winnable. We could have won all of those,” Zubac said. “We just keep doing the same mistakes every single game and it’s not like it is going to magically change if we get Kawhi and Brad back the next game.”
NUGGETS AT CLIPPERS
When: Wednesday, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Intuit Dome, Inglewood
TV/Radio: FDSN SoCal, 570 AM