Things are going south for the Los Angeles Clippers at this crucial stage of the season. They have lost four out of their last five matches, with their latest defeat coming against the Atlanta Hawks. The Clippers lost 110-93 at Crypto.com Arena and they need to turn the tables.
In fact, they were in arrears by as many as 29 points at one stage. The Clippers are currently 42-25 but they haven’t been at their best in the recent past.
“It’s between the ears with us,” franchise star Kawhi Leonard said. “We got to go out and do it.”
“I mean that’s what we’re appearing to look like, which is not good,” George said. “We want to be a team that’s consistent and we want to establish an identity. I’ve always spoken about having an identity and I think it’s extremely important.
“Right now, I don’t think we have an identity.”
Kawhi Leonard wants the team to be more consistent and show more hunger on the court.
“Just seeing what we want to do,” said Leonard, who scored 17 of his 28 points in the first quarter. “That’s it. What type of team we want to be. If everybody’s saying they want to be one of the last teams standing, then we got to go out and do it.”
On the other hand, Clippers coach Ty Lue identified improving basketball, transition defense, offensive rebounding, and spacing as the four areas that will keep his team in good stead.
“When they do it, it works,” Lue said. “When you have so much talent and you have guys that can do it so easily, they don’t understand that your talent is great, but the talent’s got to be for the team as well.
“Maybe it’s me. Maybe I got to do something a little different to make sure that we’re doing what we’re supposed to do. … [But] I’ll never really overreact because I know we’re a good team … If you want to win, I know what it looks like. I’ve been there, I’ve seen it.”
The Clippers will next take on the Portland Trailblazers on Wednesday night.
