INGLEWOOD — If the Clippers were looking for a way to hide their flaws and overcome their faults for at least one night, they found the perfect solution. The Dallas Mavericks.
The Mavericks came into Intuit Dome on Saturday missing five key players, including Anthony Davis and Daniel Gafford, and was tagged with the league’s worst offensive rating, which gave the Clippers hope of ending their misery.
But not even another strong effort by Kawhi Leonard and equally impressive showing by James Harden was enough to pull the Clippers out of their spiral as they lost to the depleted Mavericks 114-110, extending their current skid to four games.
Coach Tyronn Lue has preached nonstop to his team about the need to play all 48 minutes with the same effort they start games. The Clippers tend to fade in the second half. But nothing has changed.
The Clippers are still coming out in the second half without energy, without focus and without victories.
When asked what needs to change, Lue repeated his oft-said words of “got to play better.” When pressed that if no one is playing better, what’s the next step?
“There’s no next step right now,” Lue said.
Unless that step takes them further into NBA oblivion. The Clippers are 5-15 and 14th in the Western Conference after just 20 games and there’s no magic potion on the horizon.
“In a way, he’s correct,” forward John Collins said of Lue’s assessment. “The only thing we can do is continue to fix our energy, watch film. I mean, the same stuff we have been doing, but what’s the phrase? Insanity, right?”
In the second game of a back-to-back, the Clippers took an early 10-point lead, but like other games, they couldn’t hold on and watched the Mavericks chip away until they tied and took the lead in the third.
“We’re trying to do what we can, but right now, obviously it’s a tough time for us,” Collins said. “But nobody in this locker room are losers, so we’re trying to figure it out.”
Like their Friday’s game against the Memphis Grizzlies, the Clippers were competitive until they weren’t. They couldn’t keep pace with Mavericks’ rookie Cooper Flagg, who had a game-high 35 points or Klay Thompson, who scored 23 points off the bench, or any of the young players who filled in for the missing stars.
Flagg and Thompson made key free throws down the stretch that put Dallas ahead for good. Flagg made two free throws with 35 seconds left and Thompson added two more with 19 seconds remaining to push the Mavericks ahead 110-105.
Clippers center Ivica Zubac came up big with a cutting dunk with 10 seconds left, but it wasn’t enough. Flagg made a final two free throws and Nija Marshall added two more in between foul shots by Harden to close out the scoring as the Clippers lost for the 13th time in their past 14 games.
“It’s too early. We got 62 games left,” said Leonard, who scored 30 points and had eight rebounds and three assists. “We just got to be better in the second half, and I mean the second quarter in the last three fourths of the season and see what we could do.”
Harden finished with 29 points, eight rebounds and 11 assists, while Collins added 21 points and four rebounds and Zubac had 19 points and 11 rebounds.
The Mavericks won despite making just two 3-pointers in the first half and struggling to establish any sort of early rhythm. Dallas (6-15) regrouped after halftime to pull out the unlikely victory.
The Mavericks had closed a seven-point halftime deficit (56-49) with an 8-2 run early in the third quarter and then tied the game at 67 points apiece on a 3-pointer by Max Christie at the 6:39 mark.
Harden scored 10 consecutive points to push the Clippers back to a 77-69 lead that left the Mavericks down but not bothered.
Trailing 81-74, Thompson buried a 3-pointer, followed by free throws by Brandon Williams and two more by Marshall that tied the game at 81 with 48 seconds left in the third. The teams were tied at 83 heading into the final quarter.
The Mavericks didn’t back down and continued to push the Clippers. Thompson’s fourth 3-pointer tied the game at 96-all and after a pair of free throws by Harden, he hit another to give Dallas a 99-98 lead with 4:02 remaining in the game.
The Clippers’ flaws still showed through. They turned the ball over 18 times compared to the Mavericks’ nine, let another lead slip away and couldn’t take advantage of Dallas’ poor 3-point shooting (10% in the first half).
“It starts with everybody, and you have to be able to look yourself in the mirror and see what you can bring better to the team and what helps the team,” Lue said.
The Clippers are missing two starters – Bradley Beal and Derrick Jones Jr., and only recently got Leonard back after he missed 10 consecutive games. Their absences have played a role in the team’s flailing this season than many realize, Lue said.
“I know we’ve had tough circumstances the last five, six years, but I’ve been able to figure it out,” Lue said. “But this year it’s been tough. I wouldn’t say far as (it being a level of) frustration. I think everyone has injuries in the league, but I think our injuries really hurt us. … it just put us in a funk that we couldn’t get out of.
“So. I’m just really I guess pissed off more than frustrated because it happens every year and it’s just tough to try to continue to keep getting through it.”