The Clippers played four games in seven days. In 10 games this season, they have played three sets of back-to-backs.
Before Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told his players that they can’t afford to buy into their circumstances.
Despite blowing a 14-point lead, the Clippers put Lue’s words into action and beat James Harden and Norman Powell by missing key free throws down the stretch in a 105-103 win at the Intuit Dome that extended their winning streak to four games.
Read more: Norman Powell continues to shine, scoring 31 in the Clippers’ win over the Kings
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 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 jumper with 4.1 seconds left.
Before the game, Lue encouraged his players to continue to play stellar defense and do a better job of taking care of the basketball.
“Just being mentally strong,” Lue said. “Can’t give in to fatigue. You can’t give in to the schedule. Just take it one game at a time.”
Although the Clippers are one of the top defensive teams in the NBA, Lue said they would be better if they didn’t allow transition points from turnovers.
Entering Saturday, the Clippers had allowed an average of 106.7 points per game, the second-best mark in the NBA. The Clippers are fourth in defensive rating (107.9).
But the Clippers are also 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’re going to be able to win games because we’re getting shots on goal,” Lue said. “But if you have 19, 20 turnovers every night, it’s hard to win those games because your defense has to be elite, as it has been so far. But we can’t keep putting our hat on our defense every night and turning the ball over, letting teams come out, get easy points in transition. … If we get to that 10, 12 range, I mean, we’re 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 again, the Clippers let that lead slip.
Etc: Lue was asked if Kawhi Leonard, who has not played this season because of inflammation in his right knee, would travel with the Clippers on their three-game road trip that opens Monday against Oklahoma City. He was brief with his answer.
“Uh, no,” Lue said.
This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
