LOS ANGELES — Since the first practice of the season, coach Tyronn Lue has talked about the Clippers’ abundance of scoring options. One night it could be Kwahi Leonard or Paul George who takes charge. Another time it might be guard John Wall or Norman Powell who steps up.
But having several scorers also has had its drawbacks in terms of turnovers. Lue said the Clippers have a lot of players who can score from off the ball, such as Powell and Luke Kennard, and not one dominant force who dictates play on the floor, and that leads to mistakes.
“We have six or seven guys that we initiate offense through, and so when you have that, it’s going be a high turnover risk,” Lue said. “But we got to be better with it and not be casual.”
The Clippers were better in some areas but not perfect in a 112-91 loss to the New Orleans Pelicans on Sunday afternoon at Crypto.com Arena.
While they limited their turnovers to 15 (down from Thursday’s 39) and crashed the boards effectively,they gave up a double-digit lead, struggled with their outside game and failed to keep the Pelicans out of the paint.
New Orleans dominated inside with 54 points and led by as many as 19 on the strength of its inside play.
Little went right in the third quarter for the Clippers. The Pelicans went on a 10-0 run to take a 56-54lead, before the Clippers staged a 5-0 run to close the gap, 62-61. By the end of the quarter, the Pelicans held a 78-67 lead — a 21-point turnaround since the 7:42 mark of the second.
Lue called a time out 49 seconds into the third quarter, seemingly not happy, after Devonte’ Graham hit a three-pointer. Lue’s mood didn’t lighten as the Clippers (2-4) headed to their fourth consecutive loss.
Not helping matters was the fact the Clippers again didn’t have Kawhi Leonard, who continues to experience stiffness in his surgically repaired right knee. He has missed the past three games and has been ruled out of Monday’s contest against the Houston Rockets.
Lue turned over the game late in the first quarter to the bench, which maintained the lead and kept the turnovers low.
They didn’t do everything right in the first half. The Clippers allowed the Pelicans to climb back into the game, letting an 11-point lead turn into a 52-52 tie in the final three minutes.
But they did limit their turnovers to nine in the first 24 minutes and held Pelicans’ leading scorers from going off. Zion Williamson had 10 of his 21 points in the first half and CJ McCollum had just eight of his20 points.
Switching guys in and out still is a concern for Lue, who said it disrupts the flow of the game.
“It’s just something we have to play through right now,” Lue said. “I think when you get a good rhythm,certain guys got to come out and then you go up 12 and take guys out and then you go back down.
“Just understanding the balance between those couple things is something we’ve just got to fight through it right now until we’re able to play a right amount of minutes and the right amount of games.We’ll be fine, though.”
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