The message was clear from Clippers coach Tyronn Lue to his group: Play hard and compete.
After seeing his players struggle in the last three games — including two losses — Lue insisted his players perform at a higher level against the fast-paced Indiana Pacers on Thursday night at Intuit Dome.
Lue wasn’t going to accept any excuses, even if the Clippers were playing short-handed because of a trade made earlier in the day.
Read more: Clippers trade Terance Mann and Bones Hyland to Hawks for Bogdan Bogdanovic and picks
In what became a topsy-turvy game, the Clippers opened a 22-point lead in the second quarter, fell behind by 13 in the third, then rallied late before ultimately losing 119-112.
Kawhi Leonard played a season-high 33 minutes and scored 11 of his 19 points in the fourth, but that wasn’t enough to save the Clippers from their third consecutive loss.
Ivica Zubac had a double-double with 18 points and 15 rebounds and James Harden had 22 points, nine assists and six rebounds.
But 19 turnovers coupled with their inability to stop guard Tyrese Haliburton doomed L.A. Haliburton scored nine of his 14 points in the fourth quarter.
“Just talking to the guys today, they owned it,” said Lue, about the team’s recent struggles before playing the Pacers. “We have to be better, all around the board. It can’t be from a lack of playing hard and competing. We understand that we are a defensive-minded team first. Everything else takes care of itself and we haven’t done it the last three games. So, they understood that, I understand that and we just got to be better. It doesn’t mean you are going to win every game, but the way you lose and how you lose is something totally different.”
Before the game, the Clippers (28-23) traded fan-favorite Terance Mann and Bones Hyland to the Atlanta Hawks for guard Bogdan Bogdanovic and three second-round draft picks, according to people with knowledge of the deal not authorized to speak publicly. They also traded reserve guard Kevin Porter Jr. to the Milwaukee Bucks for MarJon Beauchamp.
When asked if he could comment on the trades, Lue said, “No, sir.”
The Clippers have been one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, ranking third in points allowed (107.5), second in defensive rating (108.2) and second in steals (10.2).
Even with all that, the Clippers knew their defense would be pushed by the Pacers.
They came to L.A. ranked 10th in scoring (107.5), fourth in field-goal percentage (49.1%) and ninth in three-point shooting (36.9%).
The Clippers started strong, holding the Pacers to 22 points on 27.6% shooting in the first quarter, while scoring 42 points.
Indiana center Myles Turner took a forearm to the face and had to be helped back to the locker room with 6:13 left in the first. He was later ruled out for a concussion evaluation.
But the Pacers (29-21) kept clawing back, taking a 64-61 lead at halftime by outsourcing the Clippers 42-19 in the second quarter.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
