Clippers Must Bounce Back Against Mavericks

The Los Angeles Clippers face a daunting Monday night game against the Dallas Mavericks following a poor run of form.

The Mavericks routed the Clippers 124 – 73 in Los Angeles in the third game of the season. With their current struggles, a similarly resounding defeat could be on the cards for the Clippers.

After a humbling 135 – 115 Sunday defeat to the Pelicans, the Clippers have lost five of their last seven matches. The championship hopefuls began the year 21 – 8, and are only 4 – 7 since.

“If we play like this again tomorrow, it can be another 50-point loss,” Tyronn Lue said. “So we got to be ready, got to be prepared. And we got to have our stuff together, man.”

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The defeat against New Orleans echoed the Feb.25 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. In both games, L.A was outmatched physically and outdone by their opponents’ physicality. 

Kawhi Leonard says his team needs to get better at bouncing back.

“It’s very concerning,” Leonard said. 

“[If] we want to have a chance at anything, you gotta be consistent. You know, that’s what the great teams do, they’re consistent. They have their nights when, you know, the energy’s not there. But it’s all about consistency, from teams to players to coaches. That’s what makes a team great, players great, coaches great. A consistency of being, wanting to win, and doing pretty much the same habits of winning.”

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“Teams are going at us, and we got to put up more resistance,” Lue said. “I am not discouraged, because we have shown what we can do, and we can play at a high level. But we got to do it every single night. We can’t keep talking about it. We got to f—ing … sorry, we got to do it.”