The LA Clippers ended their first sample of 20 regular-season games with a second straight blowout loss, falling 114-104 at home against the Denver Nuggets on Black Friday. The day before Thanksgiving saw the Clippers go on the road and take a 124-107 loss against the defending champion Golden State Warriors.
At 11-9, the Clippers have a winning record through the first quarter of the season. It’s simultaneously one they should be thankful to have considering their paltry point differential (-1.1 points per game, 21st in NBA) and disappointed to possess considering the star talent and depth on the roster.
The Clippers’ last two losses have come without Kawhi Leonard, Paul George or Luke Kennard available. That’s the two best players on the team – one of which (Leonard) has only been available for five games all season – and its best shooter.
“They’re doing everything they can to get back on the floor, and like I said, it’s frustrating for those guys as well,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue says of the repeated and extended absences of his best players.
Ideally, the Clippers would have gotten off to a great start this season, allowing them to manage the inevitable health-related absences in the winter months without losing too much ground in the standings. Starting 15-5, as the Clippers did in Lue’s first season as head coach in 2020-21, would have put them at the top of a jumbled Western Conference.
Instead, the Clippers have the same record through 20 games as they did last year, a season that ended in the Play-In Tournament. The only team in the shot clock era (since 1954) to win a NBA championship despite losing at least nine of their first 20 games was the 2005-06 Miami Heat, who started 10-10 before finishing 52-30 and defeating the Dallas Mavericks in the NBA Finals.
Still, the Clippers aren’t too worried about the uphill climb they face to achieve their lofty goals.
“Not too much, but you know, a little flustered,” Clippers point guard Reggie Jackson told The Athletic when reminded of the team’s 11-9 start for the second straight season. “Not in panic mode. Just knowing how much talent we have, we wish we could figure it out quicker. But nothing to panic about right now.”
Lineup inconsistency is a key reason why the Clippers haven’t been better. The Clippers are 4-1 when Leonard plays, but they need him more often. While Leonard is the extreme example of a player shuffling in and out of the lineup, he’s not the only one. Newcomer John Wall has been healthy, but he is on a minute restriction and has already missed four games due to the Clippers holding him out of back-to-backs. George has already missed four games this season, while Kennard has missed six.
It all has added up to a team that has been less than the sum of its parts for the first quarter of the season.
“I think it’s just tough for us because we really haven’t had a set lineup yet,” Wall told The Athletic after Friday’s loss to the Nuggets. “We’d get Kawhi back for a couple of games, (George) back for a couple games. Then guys will be missing. So like, we always got like a new lineup. I mean, it’s tough. It’s always next man up.”
Here is the Clippers’ depth chart through 20 games, with 12 players playing at least 12 minutes per contest:
Clippers depth chart (first 20 games)
Clippers have been less than the sum of… Do they have…
PG
SG
SF
PF
C
Reggie Jackson
Paul George
Kawhi Leonard
Marcus Morris Sr.
Ivica Zubac
John Wall
Luke Kennard
Norman Powell
Terance Mann
Nicolas Batum
Jason Preston
Brandon Boston Jr.
Amir Coffey
Robert Covington
Moussa Diabaté
Moses Brown
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It hasn’t been all bad. The Clippers are above .500. George earned Western Conference Player of the Week honors in leading LA to a 3-1 record from Oct. 31 to Nov. 6. They at least expect Leonard, George and Kennard back sooner rather than later.
“I don’t think it’s going to be long term,” said Lue of Leonard’s sprained right ankle, George’s right hamstring tendon strain and Kennard’s right calf strain. “Last year, we knew Kawhi was out for the whole season. And we knew PG had a chance to be out for the whole season, but he worked hard to get back and be ready to play. And so when PG went out, we knew we had to change our offense and change how we played, and our guys were able to adjust to that.”
“We’re not there yet. I feel pretty good about the situation right now and how guys are progressing,” Lue said Friday.
We set a baseline Clippers projection right before the season. This is the first of four regular-season check-ins we’ll take to compare the team’s current position to its previous one.