Clippers Hit Rock Bottom With Stunning Loss to Zombie Mavs. Is There Time to Fix It?

LOS ANGELES — Tyronn Lue had no answers. 

“Got to play better,” Lue said. 

James Harden didn’t either. 

“If we knew,” Harden said, “it wouldn’t be happening.” 

In the locker room, Kawhi Leonard sounded the alarm. 

“It’s time to crawl out the hole,” said Leonard. “It’s either you want to or stay down.”

Saturday night’s 114–110 loss to the Mavericks was a low point in the Clippers’ season. Hold it—let’s stop there. The Clippers didn’t lose to the Mavs. That would imply Dallas sent out a lineup that resembled its roster. No, this was the Zombie Mavs. No Kyrie Irving. No Anthony Davis. No Dereck Lively II. No Daniel Gafford. P.J. Washington was active … until Washington stepped on a loose ball during warmups and twisted his ankle. 

The Clippers played the Mavericks only in the sense that the team opposite them wore Dallas jerseys.  

“They’re missing their star players,” said Leonard, “and we can’t get a win.” 

There’s no sugarcoating it. The Clippers, at 5–15, are bad, and it’s getting worse. The loss to the Mavs, er, Zombie Mavs came after L.A. blew a 16-point lead at home to the Grizzlies the night before. Sure, there have been injuries. Leonard has missed time, Derrick Jones Jr. is out and Bradley Beal is done for the season. But that doesn’t explain how the Clippers have gone from the NBA’s third-ranked defense last season to a bottom-five team in this one. Or why every turnover they commit on one end is an automatic bucket on the other. 

“We got to stay with it,” said Lue. 

Watching the Clippers is maddening. The offense is simplistic. Harden isolations. Leonard at the elbow. A few plays for Ivica Zubac in the post. They run the highest percentage of iso plays (12%, per NBA.com) and are one of just two teams above 10. Run enough of them, though, and even average defenses will figure you out. L.A. committed 18 turnovers on Saturday, which Dallas converted to 20 points. 

Defensively … huh? How good were the Clippers last season? They were top five in opponent points per game. They had a better defensive rating than Boston. They gave up fewer second-chance points than everyone but Orlando. 

They weren’t a good defense. They were a great defense. 

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What’s happened? The Clippers swapped out some pieces—maybe Norman Powell was more valuable than some thought—but the core of last season’s team remains. Cooper Flagg, the Mavericks’ 18-year-old rookie, scored 35 points in 38 minutes. Klay Thompson, a game-time decision with a knee injury, shot 61.5%. 

“I thought our point-of-attack defense one-on-one, especially in that first half, really hurt us,” said Lue. “I thought they got to wherever they wanted to get to on the floor.”

That’s a lot of words to not say one: effort. The Clippers’ effort is lacking. It’s obvious. L.A. is sleepwalking through so many possessions. There’s no energy. There’s no fire. There’s no fight. The Clippers have several strong wing defenders, including Leonard. On Saturday, Flagg ran roughshod over them. 

“Fixing our energy, as a collective, whether it be our guys at the top or be our rooks [rookies], coaches, whoever it may be,” said John Collins. “Everybody has to genuinely believe that we belong here, and that we’re ready to win. And everybody has to be bought into it or we’re just talking.”

Lue said he still believes the team can turn a corner. He has to. He has no choice. The Clippers have no choice. There’s no trade that’s going to save the season. Gutting the team is pointless as long as Oklahoma City owns L.A.’s 2026 first-round pick. Before the game, Lue said he wasn’t frustrated as much as he was “pissed off” at the Clippers’ start. 

Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard drives to the basket against Mavericks forward/center Dwight Powell. / Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images

“It starts with everybody,” said Lue. “Just be able [to] look yourself in the mirror and see what you can bring better to the team and what helps the team. We all got to be better. We play two or three good quarters, but we can’t sustain it. We can’t do it for 48 minutes.”

The Clippers are not a championship team. The days of wondering if a Leonard-led group can reach its potential are over. An aging roster isn’t getting any younger. The question is if they can be a good team. Leonard thinks so. “Got 62 games left,” said Leonard. “We just gotta be in that second quarter [of the season], the last three-fourths of the season, and see what we can do.”

It can also go the other way. Standing at his locker, Harden was asked if the season was salvageable. “What other choice do we got?” Harden responded. When a reporter noted things could get worse, Harden could only laugh. 

“It can,” Harden said. “This is a question that we’ll see.”

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