The Clippers are limping into their new era, having now lost three games in a row after Wednesday night’s 103-87 clunker at the hands of their crosstown rivals, the Lakers, who were playing without superstar guard Luka Doncic.
Perhaps worst of all, constant chants of “Let’s go Lakers!” seemed to drown out the support of Clipper fans in the Intuit Dome, part of a near-sellout crowd of 17,927. With this latest loss, the Clips fell to 1-3 in this new season and new era of change.
So what’s wrong, besides some significant injury issues? The Clippers are falling severely ill to the turnover bug, giving the ball up at least 24 times in each of their last three games. They now lead the league in turnovers 23.5 per game; next-worst is the Charlotte Hornets with 20.2.
“We got to do a better job of taking care of the basketball,” Clippers Coach Tyronn Lue said in a mild understatement before the game. Said Lue in his postgame presser: “We had a lot of unforced errors that we could take care of and have control over.”
Darius Garland, the team’s star point guard, is one of the major culprits on this issue. He’s turned the ball over 20 times in the last three contests combined. Granted, he has the ball in his hands far more than any of his teammates, but as a facilitator and mentor to younger guards such as promising rookie Keaton Wagler, it’s an issue Garland needs to address.
“We’re asking a lot of him,” Lue said about Garland. “Getting off of it [the basketball] a second earlier” is something Lue cited as a goal going forward for Garland.
Unfortunately for the Clippers, taking care of the ball may not be a fix-all. They’ve been outrebounded in each loss this season. With young center Yanic Konan Niederhauser still recovering from right-foot surgery in the offseason, the Clippers are thin in the frontcourt, relying on the 6-foot-8 Isaiah Jackson and a 38-year-old Brook Lopez for the vast majority of their center minutes.
Niederhauser is far from the only absence that’s hurting the Clippers. Brandon Ingram, Bradley Beal, Rui Hachimura, Jordan Miller and Max Strus are all out for undetermined periods of time.
Lue added that Garland is suffering from a “little back tightness,” something that could be affecting his ballhandling and overall on-court leadership.
Injuries are a problem throughout the NBA in the early going, with big names such as Anthony Edwards, Tyrese Haliburton and Jalen Williams already out for extended periods of time. But the Clippers missing six true rotational pieces is an especially bad break.
The injuries to Beal and Ingram leave the team without a ton of offensive creation. This is part of why the offense has been so reliant on Garland to start the season.
“We are limited offensively, so when we are getting in the halfcourt, we talk about running and transitioning, you got to sprint the screens and cut. You have to do all the different things hard and with pace,” Lue said after the game.
Hachimura is designated as day-to-day, so he’s likely to return soon, followed by Niederhauser, while the rest of the injuries may demand longer recovery periods.
Going forward, the Clippers are hoping to see continued development from Wagler, the No. 5 pick in the NBA Draft who led the team with 21 points Wednesday night.
“I’ve got to make sure to create separation. We’re still letting the defender stay on me. So that’s one thing I’ve been trying to work on, to be able to handle the pressure throughout the whole game,” Wagler said.
The Clippers will look to get back on track with a fairly manageable schedule over the next few weeks, including games against the Warriors, Heat, Pelicans, Suns and Jazz, who all currently have losing records.
Following tonight’s NBA Cup game in Minneapolis, the Clippers head to Northern California to face Golden State on Sunday at 5:30 p.m.