The LA Clippers have secured themselves a top-four spot in the postseason. That doesn’t mean there aren’t issues, however. After the Clippers beat the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday, head coach Ty Lue brought up their issues.
Ty Lue said the LA Clippers’ biggest issue is the team doesn’t always respect the game.
What does that mean? It means the Clippers aren’t taking care of the ball and playing the way they should. In Thursday’s game, the team had 22 turnovers. Luckily for them, the Lakers were shorthanded enough where the high number of turnovers didn’t end up mattering.
Still, that cannot happen during the postseason. With that starting very, very soon, the Clippers need to make sure they fix that issue and work hard to take care of the ball.
Tyronn Lue said he felt the Clippers didn't really respect the game the way he wanted given their 22 turnovers. He pointed out the Lakers didn't have many ballhandlers but still only had 11 turnovers.
— Andrew Greif (@AndrewGreif) May 7, 2021
It’s not a widespread issue, thankfully. The Clippers actually rank just seventh in the league in turnovers per game with 13.1 per game. While that seems fine, it’s worth noting that two of the Clippers’ potential playoff matchups rank lower than them — the Phoenix Suns and Dallas Mavericks. Cutting down on turnovers against those two teams, especially the Suns, will be key in any playoff series.
It’s nice to see that with only five games left on the schedule that Ty Lue is still coaching and is adamant that the team fix their issues. They’ve only recently gotten (almost) fully healthy so building chemistry and working on those potential problems has to get done quickly before the playoffs start.
The LA Clippers seem to be clicking and getting healthy at the right time but it will still take some work for them to make noise in the playoffs. Luckily, they have a head coach in Ty Lue that will keep them focused and on the right track this postseason.