The Clippers finally returned home on Wednesday night after struggling mightily on their eight-game road trip. They got back on the winning track last Wednesday night when they beat the Detroit Pistons 123-115 at the Intuit Dome in Inglewood behind the 50-point performance by James Harden. Clipper center Ivica Zubac scored 22 points against the Pistons.
Los Angeles dealt with poor play and injuries as they finished 2-6 on the trip. The Clippers’ grip on the sixth spot in the West faded away and they now sit in the eighth seed behind the Minnesota Timberwolves (7th) and the Golden State Warriors (6th). They are just three games ahead of the 11th seed Phoenix Suns who recently came back from a 23-point second half deficit to defeat them on Tuesday night. The Clippers have a record of 33-29.
“Just got to play through it. Nobody’s going to feel sorry for us,” coach Tyronn Lue said. “It’s a hard season, and every night’s going to be a tough game, and we understand that. So, you’re going to win some, you’re going to lose some, but the biggest thing is about getting through adversity, staying together and then making sure we’re building and going in the right direction.”
Norman Powell, the team’s leading scorer, is averaging 23.8 points this season and has played the best basketball of his NBA career so far this season. He is a key component to the team’s offense and has missed several games which is one of the reasons they are struggling right now. The Clippers have struggled when the former UCLA Bruin is not available as they are 6-10 in his absence.
Powell has been sidelined with injuries, missing four consecutive games before re-aggravating his condition during his return against the Lakers a few games ago.
The Clippers star guard is not the only Clipper dealing with injuries as key contributors, Ben Simmons and Derrick Jones Jr., have also missed time during the road trip as well. “Injuries are part of the game,” Lue said. “We’re not the only team that’s hurt, and we have played this way for the majority the time I have been here. So, that’s no excuse.”
Injuries are a big reason but not the only reason the Clippers have struggled.
All-Star guard Harden’s shooting percentage is down. In the last five games of the road trip, he shot under 35% from the field while turning the ball over 5.4 times in that span. Coach Lue believes that Harden is dealing with some type of fatigue, but the future Hall of Famer disagrees. “No, it’s not fatigue. It’s just lineups and different rotations and whatnot” Harden said.
Maybe Harden was right, as he scored 50 points in the Clippers 123-115 win over the Detroit Pistons to end their three-game losing streak on Wednesday night. It was the team’s first game back home since February 13th.
“Watching him get that 50 was, you know it was great, man. We needed all of that,” center Ivica Zubac said. “He knew how big of a game it was for us to get a win. He did a hell of a job, man. He carried us.”
Los Ángeles’s calling call this season has been its defense but even that took a step back during the trip. The Clippers’ defensive rating dropped to 23rd in the NBA at 118.8.
Two positives you can take away from the trip for the Clippers was the consistent play of Zubac and the improvement of Kawhi Leonard. Zubac has been playing lights out averaging 18.3 points while shooting 64% from the field to go along with 11.4 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in his last 10 games. He has recorded six consecutive double-doubles playing like one of the better big men in the NBA this season.
As for Leonard, he has had some ups and downs so far this season, but he is slowly finding his way. In the five games he played during the road trip he averaged 23.4 points, six rebounds and 2.8 assists in 36 minutes per game. Leonard scored his season-high in points while playing his season-high in minutes when he scored 33 points in 40 minutes against the Los Angeles Lakers on March 2nd.
The Clippers are looking for players to return from injury and play much better climb back up in the Western Conference standings. The win over the Pistons was a good start. They face the Knicks on Friday at home at 7:30 p.m., Sunday they face the Kings at home at 6:30 p.m. and they go back on the road to play the Pelicans on Tuesday at 5 p.m.