It was not too long ago that the Los Angeles Clippers were the talk of the NBA. They had a dominant 26-5 stretch, re-cementing their status as contenders for anyone who may have thought they were falling from those ranks.
To close out that stretch, the Clippers had a historically strong Grammy Road Trip. They went 6-1, with their only loss coming at the hands of the Cleveland Cavaliers. Los Angeles was 34-15 and in contention for the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference.
However, since that Grammy road trip, the team’s performance has taken a nosedive. The Clippers have struggled to string wins together, going 8-10 and slipping in the standings as they are now in fourth place, five games behind the first-place Oklahoma City Thunder.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Tyronn Lue, Los Angeles Clippers Updates
At this point, Los Angeles is closer to a spot in the NBA Play-In Tournament than first place. If they cannot get things on track, they could see their postseason plans go up in flames. Sunday’s loss to the lowly Atlanta Hawks, who are without All-Star Trae Young, could be a wake-up call for the team.
Following the 110-93 blowout loss, veteran Kawhi Leonard did not mince his words. He ripped into the team for the brutal stretch of basketball they have been on.
“Just seeing what we want to do,” Leonard said. “That’s it. What type of team we want to be. If everybody’s saying they want to be one of the last teams standing, then we got to go out and do it.”
Leonard wasn’t the only player with some eye-opening comments after the loss to Atlanta. Paul George also said something interesting, questioning whether or not the Clippers currently have an identity.
NBA NEWS & SCORES: Kawhi Leonard, Paul George, Tyronn Lue, Los Angeles Clippers Updates
Injuries have played a part in this recent swoon, as head coach Tyronn Lue has had to adjust his rotations. The broken hand Russell Westbrook suffered was a huge blow to their rotation, while Leonard and George have also been in and out of the lineup recently at times.
Key players missing games was something the Clippers were able to avoid earlier in the 2024-24 NBA season during their dominant stretch. Now they have some adversity to battle against once again if they want to keep homecourt advantage in the postseason and avoid the Play-In Tournament.
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