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Tyronn Lue says struggling Clippers are ‘in a good spot’

March 1, 2025

LOS ANGELES — Coach Tyronn Lue said the Clippers are ready for the challenge ahead, the slew of top teams that they face over the remaining 23 games of the regular season.

“It’s the tough part of our schedule. We play a lot of good teams, a lot of games this last month and a half,” Lue said Friday. “We’re slowly starting to get healthy and the guys we acquired, we just got to continue to get them up to speed.

“But I like where we’re at and it’s in our hands. So, we’re in a good spot, we’re in a good place and now we just got to start building off of it.”

Sunday’s final game this season against the Lakers would be another chance to start building toward the playoffs. The Clippers, who have lost four of their past five games, missed that opportunity in a bumbling 106-102 loss to the Lakers at Crypto.com Arena on Friday, leaving them hanging onto a playoff spot.

Their 32-27 record is equal with the surging Golden State Warriors for the No. 6 spot in the Western Conference, five games behind the Houston Rockets, who sit at No. 5. The Clippers need to play with a sense of urgency and solve their turnovers if they want to avoid a Play-In spot, characteristics that were missing Friday night.

The Clippers resorted to bad habits Friday night. They were careless with the ball, resulting in 17 turnovers, many of them coming in the final minutes. They missed 48 shots, 28 of 37 from 3-point range and failed to contain the Lakers, who were without starters Rui Hachimura (knee) and Austin Reaves (calf).

At the center was James Harden, who seemed listless after logging nearly 40 minutes a game recently while the team got healthy. That might have explained the six turnovers and 1-for-10 shooting from the perimeter and 5 of 22 overall.

The Clippers need Harden to remain at the top of his game as the season heads into the final stretch, and center Ivica Zubac as well.

The former Laker had another big game with a season-high 27 points and 16 rebounds, well above his season averages of 15.5 points and 12.6 rebounds. Yet, he could see where the Clippers slipped against the Lakers.

“In the first half, we gave up seven offensive rebounds or whatever,” he said, adding that allowing offensive boards can be difficult when teams are switching often. The Lakers had LeBron James and Luka Doncic on Zubac at times.

“So, when I contest the shots, I can’t really help rebounding. That’s where we got to turn and check good bodies, box out, go get the ball, there’s nothing else to it. So that hurt.

“Transition points, too, when they leak out and (turn into) turnovers. It’s been an issue for us and that’s something we got to get better at.”

The Clippers can’t afford many more slip-ups.

Lue is pinning his postseason hopes on the team getting healthy and having newcomers Bogdan Bogdanovic and Ken Simmons get up to speed. Norman Powell, the team’s leading scorer at 24.2 points a game, has missed five games because of a sore knee but could be back soon.

Lue said Powell played through the soreness before the All-Star break, but the shooting guard needed to switch the medical treatment he was receiving.

“But like I said, he’s getting close, and he’s been doing the things needed to try to get back on the floor and so hopefully sooner than later.,” Lue said.

MILLER GETS NEW DEAL

The Clippers reportedly are converting two-way guard Jordan Miller to a standard contract and will reportedly sign him for three years, $8.3 million. ESPN’s Shams Charania was the first to report the signing.

The 2023 second-rounder has been a standout for the Clippers’ G League team this season, averaging 23.9 points in seven games. His play has earned him minutes with the NBA team, where Miller has averaged 4.7 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.1 assists in 30 games.

To make room for Miller on the roster, the Clippers waived MarJon Beauchamp, who was acquired from the Milwaukee Bucks in the Kevin Porter Jr. trade. The team also is expected to waive little-used center Kai Jones and sign G League players Seth Lundy and Patrick Baldwin Jr. to two-way contracts.

Clippers at Lakers

When: 6:30 p.m. Sunday

Where: Crypto.com Arena

TV/radio: FDSNSC/AM 570

Orange County Register

News Details

Tyronn Lue says struggling Clippers are ‘in a good spot’

MILLER GETS NEW DEAL

Clippers at Lakers

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