LOS ANGELES — After the struggling LA Clippers lost four straight, the veteran Marcus Morris Sr.I listened to the team start making sacrifices and needing to pick up on their intensity and effort.
Starred Kawai Leonard (Knee) After missing three games in a row, the Clippers lost 112-91 to the New Orleans Pelicans at the Crypto.com Arena.
“I think we’re just showing up right now,” said Morris, who has trailed the Clippers by more than 22 points in three of their last four losses. “And we think we can win because of the talent we have and everything we have in this team. It’s not true.”
Morris added: won.
“…It has nothing to do with skill. We are beaten. They are playing harder.”
Despite winning their first two games of the season, the Clippers (2-4) are out of sync. Leonard appeared in two of his first three games, but was scoring limited minutes off the bench on his return after missing all of last season with a torn right ACL. . Leonard experienced a tightness in his right knee on Tuesday morning’s shot and hasn’t played since. Leonard has already been ruled out of Monday’s game against the Houston Rockets.
When John Wall Morris missed two games last week for personal reasons and was watching the minutes. Paul George The Clippers didn’t look like the championship contenders they were meant to be, in part because they missed one game last week due to a non-COVID illness.
George said he had to personally turn things around and would.
“I needed to get stronger,” said George, who missed 14 of 19 shots and finished with 14 points. “…It comes down to identity, and that’s where we both need to get stronger. It starts with me. I was poor tonight. Dedicated to my work and dedicated to making this team successful, it starts with me, I have to get better.
Aside from a 40-point explosion against the Sacramento Kings in Game 2 of the season, George is averaging 13.7 points and shooting just 17-of-54 combined in the remaining four games.
But the Clippers’ predicament is far greater than George’s offensive struggles.
The Clippers have less than 35% against Phoenix and two losses against Oklahoma City and New Orleans, tying their longest losing streak in the past two seasons. It was also early in the season when they shot this long in his first four games at the start of the 2021-22 season, according to ESPN Stats & Information research.
“We had to be more focused and more focused on what we were doing,” said a frustrated Ty Lue.
“…it’s not just about the players, including myself,” added the coach. “If I can’t do what I’m supposed to do, I have to do something different. So it’s my responsibility. But we all have to be better – look in the mirror, not out the window.” .”
Lou later said, “You can’t score in basketball. To be 27th in the league in scoring is terrible for all the talent we have.”
Even with Leonard out, the Clippers have built one of the deepest rosters in the NBA and have endured injuries and player restrictions. So far, you’ll see four game slides.
“You have to make sacrifices,” said Morris, who had 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists. “We have to put the body before the mind. Show other people it’s not about scoring, it’s not about points, it’s not about stats. It’s about winning games. It’s about winning the team.” It’s not about knocking, but it shouldn’t be.” Losing to these teams—regardless of how many games they played or who was eliminated. No excuses. ”
Wall has spoken to the team after their recent loss to get the Clippers out of their funk.
“We have a lot of talented teams that you can see on paper. It’s great,” Wall said. “But like I said to the players in the locker room, it doesn’t mean anything. It looks like when I was in college in Kentucky. We were everyone’s Super Bowl. Everybody was there for us.” Stand up. That’s what teams do. They know that if they hit us first and get more aggressive, they’re going to be the winning team.
“In the last four games we were down nearly 20 points like any other. We have to find a way to hide our pride and look at ourselves in the mirror. We have to figure out what works best.” This team, each individual. ”
