The Clippers need to finish the year strong, especiall after a bad loss to Portland.
The Los Angeles Clippers had a chance to create some breathing room in the Western Conference standings on Tuesday night and they let it slip away, falling to the Portland Trail Blazers 114-104 at Intuit Dome in a game that had real playoff implications.
With the loss, the Clippers dropped to 39-37 on the season while Portland improved to 39-38, pulling within just half a game for the No. 8 spot in the West.
That margin is razor-thin and the regular season is winding down fast, which makes the way Los Angeles came out in this one even more frustrating for a team that entered riding a five-game winning streak.
Collins Keeps It Real
After the game, John Collins was asked about the team's inability to come out with more energy considering the stakes, and he didn't dodge the question.
"It's not something that we're trying to do or not do, just a game of basketball ups and downs," Collins said. "Just about staying together and understanding we still have time to fix it, make it right, but it's on us and how we handle our business going forward."
It was a response from a guy who has been through plenty of adversity this season, and it reflected exactly the leadership the Clippers need from Collins during the stretch run.
The reality though is that the Clippers' seeding situation is getting tighter by the day, with the team all but locked into the play-in tournament sitting at No. 8 with six games left.
The two teams meet again on April 10 in what could end up being a de facto elimination game.
Collins' Return Hasn't Been Smooth
Collins has dealt with a rough stretch of injuries in the second half of the season that has made it hard to find a rhythm.
He missed seven games in March with a neck strain, came back, then sat out another game shortly after with a left ankle sprain.
Since returning, he has looked solid in spurts, including a 22-point outing on 9-of-13 shooting against Milwaukee just two days before the Blazers game.
On Tuesday, Collins finished with 17 points before a collision with teammate Brook Lopez in the third quarter sent him to the locker room.
He did return for the fourth, but Portland had already built a lead that Los Angeles never fully cut into.
On the season, Collins is averaging 13.5 points and 5.2 rebounds while shooting 55.7 percent from the field, and when he is right, he gives the Clippers a reliable interior scorer who takes pressure off Kawhi Leonard.
He just hasn't been able to stay on the floor long enough to build that consistency.
What's Next
Leonard put up 23 points on Tuesday but went 0-for-5 from three and couldn't will the team past a Blazers squad that dominated the boards 56-38.
Collins will need to be a big part of the answer if the Clippers want to hold onto the eighth seed and give themselves the best possible path through the play-in.
Collins' postgame words had the tone of someone who knows the margin for error is small but still believes this group can figure it out.
Whether they actually do is a different question entirely, and with Portland breathing down their necks and the Suns lurking at No. 7, every game from here carries weight that the entire roster needs to feel from the opening tip.