Clippers see carryover from positive practices
The Clippers’ schedule this season was front-loaded with games nearly every other night, allowing little or no time for practices. So, two consecutive days dedicated to shoring up the defense, establishing better communication and connecting the dots among the new players was a welcomed break.
Coach Tyronn Lue made the most of that opportunity this week, spending two days looking at what had gone awry since the All-Star break.
The Clippers (35-33) lost six games in a row before turning around a disastrous third quarter to beat the Memphis Grizzlies on Sunday. Then they prevented another third-quarter relapse, in which they allowed 25 points, with a disciplined approach down the stretch Wednesday night against Toronto to post a second consecutive victory.
What Lue discovered, however, wasn’t ground-breaking or eye-opening. The Clippers’ defense had a habit of collapsing in the third quarters often because the players were turning over the ball and not talking on the court. Breakdowns in communication were leading to a breakdown in defense.
Two days of practice and drills, however, seemed to smooth some of the wrinkles in their defense. Lue said the time spent on the practice floor was key, maybe even some sort of galvanizing moment.
“That and having the film sessions,” Lue said. “I think having the two days of practice time where we really locked in and showed those guys exactly what we want, what we need and how we need to defend.
“I give our guys credit. I thought PG (Paul George) and Kawhi (Leonard) really set the tone early and everyone else I said I thought was really good defensively.”
Both George and Leonard pointed to the practice days as key to the two victories, saying the drills carried over in the two games.
“I thought it was just great attention to detail,” George said. “I thought we did a great job of getting back and saving possessions and like you mentioned just being in gaps to help our defenders.”
The Clippers’ defense had been slipping even before the team added Eric Gordon, Russell Westbrook, Bones Hyland and Mason Plumlee at the trade deadline. They had gone from being ranked third in defensive efficiency to 21st to 27th before Wednesday’s game.
Lue said the coaching staff stressed during the practice sessions that the team needed to make smarter plays. No more fancy behind-the-back passes or risky plays in the lane. Just don’t do it, he said.
“I know sometimes it’s instinctive, but we got to make sure we take care of the basketball,” Lue said. “So, we got to do a better job with that.”
Said Leonard: “(Tonight was because of) some carryover from practice. We did a lot of transition drills, so I think we came in playing a little bit too fast and we eventually still played fast but slowed down when we were making our passes.”
The Clippers still have work to do over the final 14 regular-season games if they hope to make a deep postseason run. But Leonard said he believes they have the right pieces and mindset. They just need consistency.
“Talking, communicating, making sure we know their sets and on the offensive end just limiting our turnovers and executing,” Leonard said. “If we could play hard throughout the whole 48 minutes and have a great defensive game, that would be great. We could live with losses if we could do that, even if we’re missing shots on the offensive end. But the defense is what needs to keep moving forward.”