The Los Angeles Clippers needed Friday night's game against the Portland Trail Blazers badly, and instead they watched it slip away in the worst possible fashion.

Portland blew the doors open early and never really let the Clippers breathe, cruising to a 116-97 win that flipped the Western Conference play-in picture on its head.

Both teams now sit at 41-40 with the regular season winding down, and for a Clippers team that clawed back from a 6-21 start, this one stung.

John Collins did not have much to show on the stat sheet. He came off the bench and played just 10 minutes, going 0-for-2 from the field with zero points and one rebound.

It was one of the worst outings of a season where he has otherwise been a steady contributor, averaging 13.7 points and 5.3 rebounds per game on 55.6 percent shooting.

But even with the rough individual performance and the gut-punch loss, Collins chose to focus on what he sees in the locker room rather than the box score.

"I wouldn’t say [it's] anything out of the ordinary. Guys are still obviously a little somber, but still jovial. We understand that we have a long road ahead of us—potentially a long road—and we’re just going to stay positive and stick together. I don’t see our locker room splitting because of one loss."

That adversity is well documented.

The Clippers shipped out James Harden and Ivica Zubac at the trade deadline and have been running with a retooled roster built around Kawhi Leonard, Darius Garland, and a mix of complementary pieces.

Collins is one of those pieces, and his voice carries weight even when his jumper is not falling.

Kawhi Leonard did what he could with 24 points, eight rebounds, and five assists, but he did not get nearly enough help.

The Blazers outrebounded the Clippers 46-35 and Deni Avdija torched them for 35 points while Donovan Clingan added 18 and 13.

The Clippers actually mounted a furious comeback from a 20-point deficit and briefly grabbed a lead in the third quarter, but Portland's fourth-quarter defense suffocated them down the stretch.

Collins' summer could be fascinating.

He is on an expiring $26.58 million deal and will become an unrestricted free agent.

He has said publicly that he wants to stay with the Clippers, but the front office has bigger plans for their cap sheet and may only offer him a short-term deal in the range of $10-15 million per year.

If Collins wants to bet on himself, other teams will come calling.

For now, though, his focus is on the postseason push and keeping the group together through whatever comes next.