Before they left the padded locker room at the Paycom Center Thursday night, the luster of their preseason title quest was temporarily overshadowed by a 2-3 start when the Clippers were convinced a week into the season wasn’t enough to start panicking. .
All of this and more is under scrutiny following a 118-110 loss to the Thunder, a two-legged team that is expected to lead the draft lottery next summer.
It’s not unusual for Clippers defenseman Norman Powell to have a slow start to the season, but the team is hoping he can turn things around quickly without Kawhi Leonard.
The Clippers and their veterans have tried to look far into the distance during their three-game losing streak and have admitted that Kawhi Leonard’s status is still unknown and Marcus Morris Sr is still away from the team, mourning the loss of a loved one.
“We need to get this out as quickly as possible,” security guard Reggie Jackson said. “I think the beauty of us getting older and playing multiple seasons is that we know we have a lot of time left, so we don’t necessarily panic, but we desperately need to give it our all.”
George said he’s been bedridden for most of the past four days with little to no morning shooting practice and still has 10 points, 7 rebounds and 3 assists in 31 minutes. He hopes his most lasting contribution will come from speaking up after the fact and voicing to his teammates his concerns about the team’s lack of training intensity and focus.
“It’s definitely a priority right now,” George said. “This is not an urgency, but the need to develop the right habits. We’re not going to be perfect, there are always things we can do better every night, but in terms of what we need to start. You can’t make the same mistakes night after night, we have to start building the team we want to be and start building that team now.”
He went on to say that the Clippers are “repetitive” and making the same mistakes, allowing too many offensive rebounds (13, 21 for the Thunder), too many assists (20, 31) and too many communication barriers. “Pi definitely gave us a message,” said Jackson, who scored 18 points and looked the best this season. “We must continue to develop good habits. You know it’s a marathon, but we can’t wait too long to get this ship back on track.”
The Clippers were 18 points behind in the first half, but with Jackson, John Wall and Terensman in the lead, the second quarter resumed, closing the gap and building a 7-point lead in the third. For the first time this season, all defensemen worked together as Norman Powell got off to a poor start, dunking Kenrich Williams, who scored 21 points on 9-of-15 shooting.
Luke Kennard scored 10 points off the bench. Mann had 6 points, more than himself, and Wall had 17. The Clippers led the Thunder by 17 points in Wall’s 11 minutes in the first half. Wall’s second-half transition dunks were so ferocious that an NBA scout watching the game said it looked like “Old John Wall in Washington.”
Then, like their promising 2-0 start to the season, it all fell apart within two minutes, in a series of consecutive possessions with an offensive foul, an assist, a second offensive foul, another pass, a third offensive foul, and the completion of a pass. . .
The Clippers’ depth allows them to take Kawhi Leonard off the bench and play dozens of lineup combinations while focusing on building title contenders.
“We have to play smarter,” said center Ivica Zubac, who has 18 rebounds and 12 points. “We have to limit losses, we have to improve rebounds, paint, defensive rotation.
“There is no reason why we cannot come here and win these games, no matter who is eliminated from the game. It seems to me that we are still far from what we want, but this is still the fifth game, a lot of time.
Wall felt that the team showed what they could be in practice and emphasized what he called defensive communication. But in the game, words disappear when the finger is pointed at them.
“It’s still too early, 2-3 hours more, but we need to feel urgent… we can never be overtaken,” Wall said. “Whoever we put on the field, we should always have a chance to win, I believe in it and I don’t think we did it.”
Who are the Clippers after five games? “I mean, with everything that’s going on, it’s hard to understand something,” said coach Tyronne Liu. “It’s hard to understand now.”
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Andrew Grave is a Clippers beat writer for the Los Angeles Times. He joined The New York Times after covering American football and track and field at the University of Oregon. He is a graduate of the University of Oregon and grew up on the Oregon coast.
Post time: Nov-01-2022