LOS ANGELES — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue called Sunday’s 121-107 loss to the short-handed Philadelphia 76ers frustrating. and embarrassing. It was the kind of game that made him curse and wonder what else he can do to get the Clippers moving in the right direction for more than a couple of games at a time.
After beating the Portland Trailblazers twice in the past week, the Clippers (44-26) reverted to the same bad habits that have left them fighting to stay among the top four teams in the Western Conference. They are 5-5 over their last 10 games with all their victories coming against sub .500 teams.
“I mean it’s very frustrating,” Lue said. “I’m huge on execution on both sides of the basketball and we talk about it every day about just not taking shortcuts and doing it the right way. And I think they’re frustrated as well.
“I mean it is embarrassing when you lose to teams like this (without key players) … and you’re playing at home.”
Lue could only shrug.
For the past month, Lue has continually harped on the need to cut down on turnovers and improve their transition defense – two areas that broke down against the Sixers (39-32) starting early in the first half as the Sixers to ran out to a 41-29 first quarter lead on the strength of 13 fast-break points.
By halftime, the Sixers led, 63-56, after a brief run by the Clippers who seemed to have shaken themselves out of their early malaise.
The Clippers opened the second half with a 9-2 run, capped by Paul George’s game-tying 3-pointer (65-65) at the 7:17 mark. His 2,222nd career 3-pointer pushed him past former Clippers point guard Jamal Crawford for 11th place on the NBA’s all-time list.
They also shored up their transition defense, allowing the Sixers just two fast-break points in the third and none in the final quarter and kept the score close until the Sixers took control in the fourth on a 15-2 run behind the shooting of Tyrese Maxey, who scored 10 of his 24 points during the spree.
“They just got hot early and then we couldn’t cut them off from there,” Kawhi Leonard said. “Kind of bounced back in that second quarter a little bit, but then again, they came out with good runs in the fourth – 10-0 runs, 8-0 runs. That’s pretty much the game.”
Like Lue, Leonard had little answers as to why these things kept occurring. The Clippers turned the ball over 13 times that turned into 17 points and allowed 17 fast-break points to a team that didn’t have Kyle Lowry (rest) seven-time All-Star center Joel Embid, who has missed the past 23 games because of a meniscus tear in his left knee.
Tobias Harris and Maxey picked up the slack, each scoring game-high 24 points and Cameron Payne came off the bench for 23 points.
In Embid’s absence, the slumping Sixers had gone 12-23, losing four of their past six games, including a seven-point loss to the Lakers on Friday.
“I just wish I had the answers or we would be doing it (fixing the problems), but it’s basketball,” Leonard said. “You’re fighting against another team. We’ve got to come in more focused, I guess, and then see what happens. More focused and playing harder.”
Leonard led the Clippers with 20 points, six rebounds and three assists after a slow start and George finished with 18 points. Ivica Zubac added 13 points and had 10 rebounds, while Norman Powell came off the bench to score 20 points in his first game since March 15. He had been out because of a lower leg contusion.
The game, the first meeting between the teams since the James Harden trade, was devoid of any emotional residue. Both coaches said too many games and months had elapsed since the Oct. 31 trade that sent Nicolas Batum, K.J Martin and Robert Covington to Philadelphia and brought Harden and P.J. Tucker to Los Angeles.
Harden finished with 12 points and 14 assists and left the arena before speaking to the media.
The Clippers now have 12 regular-season games to get it right or face the prospect of slipping in the standings and losing home court advantage.
“Our focus will be there,” George said of the playoffs. “I don’t know the answer to that. Obviously, our focus would be there if we could pinpoint that and address it right at the thing. But it just comes down to everybody just being dialed in, whatever’s the game plan, stick to it and follow through with that plan.”