On February 7, the Clippers took the lead in the Western Conference following a superb rise in the standings. Because at the end of November, after James Harden's complicated debut with his new team, Steve Ballmer's club was only in 11th place in its conference, with a negative record (8 wins – 10 losses).
A little over two months later, Kawhi Leonard and company had the best record in the West (34-15) having won 26 of their 31 outings over the period. Their attack (124.3 points scored over 100 possessions), the best in this period of time, largely compensated for a defense that could still be improved (16th, 116.1 points conceded over 100 possessions). And the team could aim for first in the West for the playoffs.
Except that, since then, the Clippers have lost quite heavily against the Pelicans (-11), the Wolves (-21), the Thunder (-22) and the Kings (-16) and they came close to being penalized against the Pistons (+ 6), to the Warriors (+5) and to the Grizzlies (+6), each time only taking the advantage in the last minutes of the match…
Kawhi Leonard: “We’re a little flat, but we have time to pull ourselves together”
“After losing by 16 points (against the Kings) and being crushed in the second half in OKC, we have to reduce the gap” explains Kawhi Leonard. “It goes through defensive rebounding, setting up. We come out of downtime not knowing what we should do sometimes. We're a little flat, but we have time to pull ourselves together. »
During this delicate period, the Clippers only have the 23rd attack (110.3) and the 26th defense (118.1). For Tyronn Lue, it is especially on this side of the field that the problems have developed.
“We're going to practice the next two days, just to understand what we need to do offensively and defensively, to improve. We slipped on both sides of the field, in what we have to do. We have these two training sessions to progress, hoping that this will allow us to return to our previous level of play. »
Before participating in the Los Angeles derby, against the Lakers, on Wednesday.
“The season is long… We have to focus mentally and understand what we have to do if we want to take the next step, like I said, before the playoffs. We have to concentrate mentally, find our edge on both sides and take advantage of these days to progress” concludes the coach.
