The Clippers talk about having the confidence to turn around their slowly sinking season. Yet, they also use troubling words such as a lack of offensive rebounds, turnovers and sloppy transition defense, not to mention the injuries and ever-changing lineups have led the team to its early 5-13 record.
Still, James Harden is among those who believe the season is far from over and that the Clippers will start a winning trend soon.
“What else are we going to do? Confidence (comes) every day when we wake up, right?” the 12-time All-Star point guard said after the Clippers’ 135-118 loss to the Lakers on Tuesday.
“We got a lot of games left where we can hit a stride, but we’ve dealt with literally everything you can do from injuries to different lineup changes,” he added. “…We’re figuring it out. But tonight was a good step, start for us.”
Although the Clippers played well for the first three quarters against the Lakers, familiar bad habits crept in during the final quarter. Bad possessions, slow reaction in transition, turnovers (14 overall) and lack of offensive rebounds enabled the Lakers to pull away.
Combined that with injuries to starting forward Derrick Jones Jr. (knee), starting guard Bradley Beal (hip), Bogan Bogdanovic (back) and Jordan Miller (hamstring) and a host of young players who are learning on the job.
The Clippers, though, could get on those reclamation plans with two home games against two Western Conference teams that have their own share of problems. On Friday, the Clippers face the Memphis Grizzlies (7-12), who lost eight of nine games before winning three of their past four.
Then on Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks (5-14), who like the Clippers, haven’t been able to string together two victories in a row visit Intuit Dome. The Clippers, behind a big game from Harden, beat the Mavericks in double overtime on Nov. 14.
So, there’s hope, especially with Kawhi Leonard back after missing 11 games because of a sprained ankle and foot. But after two games, Leonard doesn’t look like his old self, appearing disengaged and not fully healthy, leading Coach Tyronn Lue to continue to juggle his lineups.
And in Leonard’s opinion, they aren’t always the right players on the court.
“Just got to get the right lineups on the court,” said Leonard, about what it will take to start winning. “I guess get some more talent, play with better talent and see what happens.”
Leonard was talking about the talent on the bench, not upending the current roster.
“I’m saying (we have to start) playing better. We all just got to play better, make shots, move the ball a little bit more, trust one another and just get better,” he said.
Lue, too, believes the Clippers’ fortunes will change, saying “we’re doing things the right way. … Things will get better.”
No one player is hoping the season turns around more than Harden, who has never played on a losing team.
“I haven’t been in a losing situation before, but I haven’t been in a situation where literally it feels like everything is going against us,” Harden said. “You know what I mean? So, this is going to be a test of our character and what we can do later in the season.”