INGLEWOOD — An All-Star snub. The second game of a back-to-back after a three-game trip. James Harden’s personal issues that kept him in Arizona and off the court. Rumors of a potential trade.
On top of all that, the Clippers had to play the rejuvenated Philadelphia 76ers, which only added to their rough past few days. And a deflating 128-113 loss on Monday night at the Intuit Dome certainly didn’t help.
The Clippers (23-26), who lost for just the fifth time in the past 22 games, played as though there were things weighing heavy on their minds. They struggled to find their footing or stop the 76ers’ effective transition game, trailing 18-2 five minutes into the game and by as much as 23 points in the first half.
And by the time they found their footing, Philadelphia (28-21) had a hefty advantage and didn’t let up as the Clippers’ defense – ranked seventh in the league since Dec. 20 – had little answer for the 76ers’ high-powered offense.
Clippers forward John Collins couldn’t say what exactly went wrong Monday night.
“I’m not necessarily sure whenever I think about it in that sense. It’s more than one thing,” Collins said. “Offensive execution, they were making a lot of tough shots. It was the second out of a back-to-back. I mean, those are all excuses. Just got to step up and play better.”
Tyrese Maxey led the Sixers with 29 points on 9-of-18 shooting (7 for 14 from 3-point range) to go with six assists, five rebounds and three steals. Dominick Barlow added a career-high 26 points and 16 rebounds, while center Joel Embiid added 24 points, going 7 for 7 from the free-throw line, five rebounds and three assists.
“The biggest thing for us transition-wise, if we get a shot on goal, we’re decent, but when we turn the basketball over, we can’t get back,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said before the game. “So, we got to stand with this team, we got to take care of the basketball. If we do that and get shots on goal, we can get back and get our defense set.”
That didn’t happen as Philadelphia scored 22 points off the Clippers’ 14 turnovers and scored 10 fast-break points, finishing with 16 more field-goal attempts than the Clippers.
Not helping matters was that star Kawhi Leonard, one day after learning he was not selected as a reserve for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game, came out flat, scoring just two points in the first quarter. This, after scoring 25 points the previous night in the first game of the back-to-back.
He said that while he would have liked to be named to the All-Game roster, he is moving forward.
“There was never an expectation for me,” said Leonard, who could still be added to the All-Star event as an injury replacement for someone such as Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo. “I was a guy that had to work my way into those conversations, so it is what it is. I’ll enjoy my time (off).”
Leonard eventually regained his focus and finished with 29 points on 12-of-21 shooting on Monday. It was his 28th consecutive game this season with at least 20 points, the longest such streak of his career. He also had six assists and four rebounds.
The Clippers pulled within 94-83 late in the third quarter before Philadelphia went into the fourth with a 100-87 advantage.
The Clippers pulled within 105-92 on a thunderous dunk by Leonard with 9:47 left to play. Leonard added another dunk off a steal to cut the margin to 115-104, but Embiid responded with an 11-foot floater with 4:56 left. Maxey’s seventh 3-pointer made it 120-104 at the 4:25 mark, and both teams unloaded their bench the rest of the way.
Without Harden, the Clippers couldn’t come close to overtaking the 76ers and took a step backward in their goal of getting back to .500 after their 6-21 start to the season.
Harden stayed back in Arizona to deal with personal issues, according to the team. A report late Monday said the Clippers are in talks to potentially trade the 11-time All-Star to the Cleveland Cavaliers in exchange for Darius Garland.
Neither Lue nor the players would comment on the rumors.
“We just have to keep playing games, keep trying to stack together wins and just be professional and come to work every day and be ready to play,” Lue said.
Jordan Miller continued his string of impressive performances for the Clippers with 21 points, four rebounds and two assists. Kobe Sanders had 17 points, John Collins added 15 and Brook Lopez scored 13 as the Clippers’ five-game home winning streak came to an end.