What to Make of Clippers’ Fifth Straight Loss After Warriors Game

The Los Angeles Clippers lost their fifth straight game to the Golden State Warriors, 124-112, and it was another game where they looked out of sorts at times. This Clippers defense has struggled early this season, and in this game, the Warriors were able to shoot an efficient 53 percent from the field. 

Golden State was without veterans Stephen Curry and Draymond Green, but they were led by rookie forward Yaxel Lendeborg, who finished the game with 37 points on 13-for-19 shooting. Lendeborg was dominant in this matchup, and he looked like the best athlete on the court. 

For Los Angeles, it was another game where they could not guard the perimeter, as they let Golden State to shoot 45 percent from the three-point range. The Warriors attempted 49 shots from downtown, and that opened things up for them on offense. 

The Clippers' defense, in general, just has to improve if they want to have a chance to be competitive in the regular season. Obviously, things will be tough without players like Brandon Ingram, Max Strus, and Jordan Miller, but this team is also just not playing good basketball at the moment. 

After their loss to the Warriors, Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue expressed his frustration with how his team has played on that end of the floor, and he doesn't want this level of play to be part of their identity. 

"At the start, there were just too many breakdowns, you know, defensively as far as what we were going to be doing coverage wise. And then getting beat off the dribble, you know, one-on-one. It’s our foundation," Lue said. 

Moving forward, this coaching staff will have to find a way to help this group improve defensively and play with more cohesion on both ends of the floor. Not only has defense become an issue, but the Clippers have turned the ball over too many times so far this season. 

In their loss to the Warriors, the team committed 14 turnovers, which is fewer than what we've seen in some of the other games they've played this season. Some of the players on this roster are very inexperienced, and injuries have caused them to play in expanded roles, which is one of the reasons why they've looked sloppy. 

Sometimes, when issues like these arise for teams, the one thing that can help them is time, and it will be interesting to see if the Clippers get better over time this season.