INGLEWOOD — The Clippers gave themselves 10 games to figure out how to play with each other. Eighteen days to nail down rotations, improve their transition defense and win games.
But that time has run out. Coach Tyronn Lue said the team needs to kick it in gear now, not tomorrow, not next week. Now, as in today.
Or perhaps Wednesday when they play again.
Riding a four-game losing streak, the Clippers gave off a sense of urgency at the start of Monday night’s game but couldn’t keep up the intensity despite a heroic effort from James Harden down the stretch and lost to the Atlanta Hawks, 105-102, at the Intuit Dome.
The gravity of the situation was clear. Win and end their skid or lose and drop further into a hole. Harden, who finished with a 35-point triple-double, seemed determined not to let that happen.
He was fouled while making a 3-point shot with 25 seconds left and made the free throw to pull the Clippers to within 105-102 with 25 seconds left, but he then missed a seemingly rushed game-tying 3-point attempt from well behind the top of the arc with 12 seconds left.
Still down three with the final seconds ticking down, he leaned in for a floater, hoping to draw a foul, but the shot fell short. His last-ditch pass to Nicolas Batum in the corner glanced off the Frenchman’s hands and the Hawks then ran out the clock.
The pace of the game ground to a halt in the second half, as the Clippers returned to their slow play, allowing Atlanta to keep a slight edge. The Hawks stretched their lead to 89-79 with a 10-3 run early in the fourth quarter.
Then Harden came alive, scoring 19 of his points on 6-of-10 shooting (4 for 7 from 3-point range) in the final quarter, but not even posting his 81st career triple-double (10 rebounds, 11 assists) could push the Clippers to their first victory since Halloween.
Ivica Zubac added 13 points and 12 rebounds, while Derrick Jones Jr. and Kris Dunn each scored 11 points for the Clippers, who were without star Kawhi Leonard (ankle) for a fourth consecutive game. Bradley Beal (hip) was also ruled out.
To change things up, Lue tinkered with the lineup on Monday, starting 6-foot-9 forward John Collins, to give the team a spark. It worked, too. The Clippers had an early 12-2 run and maintained defensive pressure on the injury-depleted Hawks for a 10-point lead at the end of the first quarter.
The Hawks didn’t roll over, though. Despite playing without Nickeil Alexander-Walker (low back), Nikola Đurišić (elbow) and Trae Young (knee), they got back into the game in the second quarter as guard Vit Krejci buried three consecutive 3-pointers to pull Atlanta to within 39-33 with 6:03 left in the first half.
His fourth 3-pointer two minutes later gave the Hawks their first lead at 42-41, erasing a 17-point deficit. Krejci, who shot 8 for 10 from 3-point range for the night, scored 17 of his career-high 28 points in the first half.
The score was tied at 52-all at halftime.
Although the season is still young, Lue had hoped to see more progress on both sides of the ball by now, more improvement outside the practice court.
“The practices we had were really good. We got better in practice, but it hasn’t at all times translated to the game,” Lue said. “The games that we won, it did translate. We kind of did some things in practice and the next game we were able to follow directions.”
Kristaps Porzingis added 20 points for the Hawks, and Jalen Johnson had 16 points and 10 rebounds as the Hawks overcame a 17-point deficit to win consecutive games for the second time this season.
More to come on this story.
