When the LA Clippers lost 94-88 to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday at Intuit Dome, it marked the Clippers’ third straight loss, and the team’s only game in a six-day period.
Now, the schedule is about to get a lot busier.
The Clippers will play 18 games in March. Once they take the floor Sunday to host the New Orleans Pelicans after two days of rest, the Clippers won’t play at home after multiple off days for the rest of the season. The only other time the Clippers have back-to-back days off this regular season will be April 3-4, before a road game against the Sacramento Kings.
That’s not all. The Clippers will play five games in seven days twice in March. Those are the busiest stretches the league permits, barring adjustments due to weather or other unforeseen circumstances. The first of those stretches begins Sunday; after hosting the Pelicans, the Clippers will visit Golden State, then return home to host the Indiana Pacers. They will then hit the road to visit the San Antonio Spurs and Memphis Grizzlies for a back-to-back.
The 27-31 Clippers currently sit in 10th place in the Western Conference standings, and the franchise has a stated goal of extending its league-leading streak of consecutive winning seasons to 15. To keep that goal alive, the Clippers must at least split their March slate.
It is unlikely that the Clippers will be able to chase down the Los Angeles Lakers and Timberwolves to secure a top-six seed, so the Play-In Tournament is likely going to be the route to clinching a playoff spot against, in all likelihood, either the Oklahoma City Thunder or Spurs. The Clippers haven’t won a playoff series in five years, but head coach Tyronn Lue believes in the team’s ability to compete over a seven-game series.
“Now, having a younger team, we got to play different,” Lue said before the Lakers game. “We got to play different. We got to do things different. We gotta do things better. But there’s no doubt in my mind that we are good enough to try to make the playoffs. If we do, and if I get in a playoff series, I like my chances.”
The Clippers have been dealing with injuries to several key players in recent weeks. Before Thursday’s game, they downgraded Kawhi Leonard from questionable to out because of a troublesome left ankle that cut short his night against the Lakers on Feb. 22. Starting power forward John Collins also missed the game against Minnesota, his second straight absence after getting clipped in midair against the Lakers and suffering a head laceration and neck soreness. And point guard Darius Garland, acquired in a trade deadline deal that sent James Harden to the Cleveland Cavaliers, has yet to debut as the team manages his surgically-repaired left big toe.
Leonard, who will lose eligibility for major postseason awards if he misses more than three remaining games this season, is expected to be ready as soon as Sunday. So is Collins. The wild card is Garland, who was previously reported to target a March return. Garland has continued to increase his participation in practice. Though he might not return Sunday, a league source told The Athletic that Garland could return on a minutes restriction for Monday’s nationally-televised game at Golden State.
The Clippers badly need Leonard, Collins and Garland, as their recent losses show. Leonard averaged 29.3 points in 10 February games while also leading the Clippers in rebounds, steals, 3s and free throws. His primary support for creating perimeter offense has been Bennedict Mathurin, who was acquired from the Pacers at the trade deadline. Mathurin scored a career-high 38 points in an impressive win over the Denver Nuggets on Feb. 19, but his point totals have decreased in each of the team’s three games since. He bottomed out against Minnesota, scoring 14 points on 4-of-14 shooting from the field and a career-worst six turnovers.
The Clippers have also missed Collins’ outside touch. The forward has been the team’s most accurate 3-point shooter, and LA has been woeful from behind the arc in February. The team has attempted fewer than 25 3-pointers in six games this season; five of them were this month. The Clippers have made fewer than 10 3s in 15 games this season; nine of them were in February. No team attempted or made fewer 3s in February than the Clippers.
Since trading Harden and Ivica Zubac at the deadline, the Clippers have missed Harden’s ability to create his own 3s and find shooters and Zubac’s roll gravity. The roster changes have forced the team to reconstruct its offense, as it seeks to implement more ball movement, more pace and more cutting, especially when Leonard is off the floor.
“Just making sure the ball is always moving, and then just getting to the second action, second side,” rookie Kobe Sanders said of LA’s new-look offense. “I think a lot of times, the ball can get stagnant. But just keep the ball moving, and get to the second action.”
“Whenever the ball touches your hands, just try to make a play,” said small forward Derrick Jones Jr. “Just be yourself, getting downhill, just try and play with a 0.5-(second) mentality.”
Adding Garland to the lineup should provide the Clippers with a necessary shot in the arm, even if he’ll need much of March to get acclimated to a new team and a return from injury.
“As you can see, with the trades that we made and James being gone and Zu being gone, we have to change our offensive style a little bit,” point guard Kris Dunn said. “I think we kind of don’t have — unless Kawhi’s playing — we don’t (have) somebody who can just go out there and just score at will. So we have to play more as a team, more collective. And I feel like with this group, we have a lot of talent.
“And guys are excited to go out there and play for Coach T. Lue, for the system that he’s trying to create with the little time that we have. And honestly, guys are excited because they get a little bit more opportunity. And I think with opportunity, guys (have) been playing well.”
Half of the Clippers’ games in March will be against teams with more than 35 losses already, the bottom third of the NBA. Another three will come against opponents with losing records. If the Clippers can get 12 wins in the month, they will bring a winning record into April and the final six games of the regular season.
The Clippers have recent experience with finishing strong under Lue. Last year, they won 18 of their last 21 games — and they needed every single one of those victories to stay out of the Play-In Tournament. That will be their mindset again this season.
“I don’t think nobody wants to go out there losing,” said Jones. “So if we can win every game from now on, I’m pretty sure everybody gonna say, ‘Yeah, we’re trying to do that.’ I’m pretty sure everybody got the mindset to go out and win every game that we can, for sure.”