LOS ANGELES — The timetable gets smaller day by day, game by game for the Clippers to figure out what will get them to the playoffs. Coach Tyronn Lue said “probably two or three more games” are needed to see how well the four new players will mesh with the team.
Two or three more games to tinker with the lineups, a pinch of games to set rotations. But with 18 regular-season games remaining before the playoffs begin, the clock is ticking.
“It’s not fair to our new guys that we don’t try all the different combinations, just to make sure that we’re doing the right thing going into the playoffs,” Lue said. “Because I think all of those guys could help us.”
Yet, Lue shortened his rotation on Tuesday night, relying on just 10 players against the Minnesota Timberwolves. He might have wanted to play more after the T’Wolves handed them a 108-101 loss at Crypto.com Arena.
The loss was their third in a row following the All-Star break.
It didn’t matter who the Clippers (33-31) had on the court, the T’wolves outplayed them from top to bottom. Minnesota (32-32) scored 60 points in the paint, got 36 points from its bench and shot 47.8% from the field while the Clippers turned it over 25 times.
And that was without All-Star Karl-Anthony Towns, who has not played since suffering a calf injury on Nov. 28 against the Washington Wizards. But they still had Jaden McDaniels, who scored 20 points, Anthony Edwards (18 points) and Rudy Gobert (16 points, seven rebounds).
“They’re playing harder than we are,” Lue admitted on national television during the second half.
Perhaps the team heard Lue’s words. Within minutes, the Clippers trimmed a 13-point deficit to six (95-89) with 6:31 left in the game. They continued to keep the pressure on the T’Wolves and cut the margin to 105-101 after a 3-pointer by Russell Westbrook with 42.2 seconds remaining, but Gobert’s dunk on the ensuing trip down the floor quashed any hopes of a Clipper rally.
Kawhi Leonard got off to a rough start, missing eight of his first 12 shots and had a few uncharacteristic turnovers, but finished with 23 points on 7-of-19 shooting.
Paul George was 10 for 21 from the field and 3 for 8 from 3-point range and finished with 25 points. His 3-pointer in the third quarter moved him past Jason Kidd for 14th place on the all-time 3-point field goal list with 1,989 shots.
On the bright side, Lue got a look at what the starting lineup could be during the final stretch of games and the playoffs with Westbrook at the point alongside Paul George, Kawhi Leonard, Marcus Morris Sr. and Ivica Zubac.
The pairing he was most interested in seeing was Westbrook (14 points, 10 assists, seven rebounds) and Zubac, who had missed the past two games because of a strained right calf. The coach didn’t have to wait long as the two connected for the first basket of the game.
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“It’s another change, but I’m excited for it and I think Zu is as well,” Lue said. “Russ can make those bigs better, get Zu some easy dunks and some things around the basket. He can help him out a lot.”
Zubac finished with 12 points, nine rebounds and two blocked shots, setting a single-season career high (78) when he blocked Anthony Edwards’ layup with 1:27 left in the first half.
Lue has a lot more work besides penciling in lineups if the Clippers want to build momentum heading into the postseason. He needs to figure out how to limit the turnovers (63 during the three-game slide) and tighten up the defense.
“Some of them we just got to be better, you know,” Lue said. “And then some of them we just got to make sure our spacing is right and understand where guys are supposed to be at on the floor.”
More to come on this story.