Despite a fourth-quarter collapse and snapping a win streak, Ty Lue maintains belief in his squad.
The Los Angeles Clippers had all the momentum on Friday night at Ball Arena after trimming a 15-point fourth-quarter deficit down to just four points against the Denver Nuggets, but the comeback effort fell apart in the final minutes.
The 122-109 loss snapped the Clippers' three-game winning streak and dropped them to 22-25 on the season, though head coach Ty Lue isn't ready to hit the panic button just yet.
"We're confident, we're playing well, but we've still got to play better," Lue said after the game. "We still have to run through the tape and continue to execute the right way. ... Overall, we're playing well. We've got to keep it going."
A Comeback That Came Up Short
The Clippers looked like they were ready to steal one on the road when Kobe Sanders scored eight straight points to spark a 13-2 run that cut Denver's lead to four.
The Ball Arena crowd went quiet, and for a moment, it seemed like Los Angeles might complete an impressive comeback against a Nuggets team getting Nikola Jokic back from a knee injury.
Then it all slipped away. A controversial foul call on a Tim Hardaway Jr. airball led to three free throws that pushed the lead back to seven, and from there, Jokic took over.
The three-time MVP scored 11 points in less than four minutes to put the game out of reach, finishing with 31 points and 12 rebounds in just 25 minutes in his first game back.
James Harden led Los Angeles with 25 points and nine assists, while Kawhi Leonard added 21 points despite dealing with a minor knee issue.
John Collins chipped in 18 points and Ivica Zubac had 13, but the Clippers couldn't get stops when they needed them most as Jokic carved up their defense down the stretch.
Tough Schedule Ahead
The loss stings because the Clippers had built real momentum over the past several weeks and looked nothing like the team that started the season 6-21.
Since that brutal start, Los Angeles has been one of the hottest teams in the league with a 16-4 stretch, and their improved defense combined with strong play from their star duo has been the biggest reason for the turnaround.
But the schedule doesn't get any easier from here.
The Clippers travel to Phoenix on Sunday night to face a Suns team sitting at 30-19 and riding a three-game winning streak of their own.
After that comes a brutal home stretch with the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday and the league-leading Cleveland Cavaliers on Wednesday, which means there's no time to dwell on what went wrong in Denver.
Lue will have to address the fourth-quarter breakdown before Sunday's game because letting winnable games slip away is not something a team fighting for playoff positioning can afford.
The Clippers sit in 10th place in the Western Conference, three games below .500, and every game matters as they push to secure a play-in spot.
The good news is that Lue has seen this team battle back from worse situations already this season, and the confidence he's talking about isn't just words.
When everything clicks with Harden and Leonard leading the way, this Clippers team has shown they can compete with anyone in the league.