After the Clippers fell to 5-13 and lost a crucial NBA Cup matchup to the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday, Ty Lue broke down just how Luka Doncic was able to kill them in the loss.
The Los Angeles Clippers suffered yet another setback in a nightmare season on Wednesday night, falling 135-118 to the Los Angeles Lakers in a crosstown NBA Cup matchup. The loss darkened what was one of the few bright spots for the team so far this season, as they were previously 2-0 in NBA Cup play and would have clinched their respective group with a win.
The main reason the Clippers were unable to overcome a Lakers team that has been in much better form of late was because of the play of superstar Luka Doncic, who appears to be well on his way to his first NBA MVP award. Doncic tallied his fifth 40-point game of the season already in the win, scoring 43 points in total while also dishing out 13 assists and grabbing nine rebounds.
Doncic made 14-of-28 attempts from the field overall and drained 7-of-12 attempts from 3-point range in the outing and has now led the Lakers in scoring in 12 of their 17 games this season. Knowing how dominant he’s been this season, you would imagine that the Clippers would have had a bit more manageable of a plan to take care of his insane scoring presence.
After the game, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue explained that Doncic is just too good to cover and that he had answers for quite literally everything Lue and the Clippers threw at him.
“We couldn't get stops,” Lue said. “I thought whatever we tried to do with Luka [Dončić], switch, fire or blitz, he just picked us apart. [He’s] just a tough cover, trying to mix it up and show him different looks, but he’s a great player. He took advantage of everything we tried to do tonight.
Silver Linings?
Despite the fact Doncic put on a clinic against a Clippers team that has now fallen to 5-12 this season with no legitimate path forward in the NBA Cup and dwindling chances to make the playoffs with each passing loss, Lue still found it within his heart to point out a few good things about how Kris Dunn and John Collins performed in the loss.
“Just seeing KD (Kris Dunn) get going and seeing John Collins get going, that was good to see,” Lue said. “I thought playing small ball let (Collins) set more screens and running the screens. I thought it was really good for us and really effective. We just have to continue to just keep building off that.”