Watch: Clippers coach's frustrations boil over as woes continue
The Clippers are 1-8 against winning teams since the All-Star break. This is the same squad many analysts predicted to represent the West in the NBA Finals not too long ago.
In fact, most sportsbooks still give Los Angeles the third-shortest odds to win the NBA championship, behind only the Celtics and Nuggets.
On Sunday night, the Clippers did not resemble a title contender in the slightest. Going up against a Joel Embiid-less Sixers at home, they suffered an embarrassing 121-107 loss as Philadelphia's reserve guard Cameron Payne — with 23 points — outscored Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and James Harden.
During the post-game presser, coach Tyronn Lue's frustrations boiled over in a faux pas moment in response to a question about him holding his star players accountable.
"They're grown men and they understand that we're a veteran team," Lue told reporters. "It's not like we're playing with second- or third-year players. They understand what the f---; they understand what they're supposed to be doing. We just got to do better."
The question was brought up following an incident in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. As seen below, a fed-up Lue called a timeout after Mason Plumlee and James Harden fumbled the ball to allow the Sixers two of their 16 second-chance points. To add insult to injury, none of the Clippers closed out on Tyrese Maxey, who was wide open for a three. The sequence summed up the Clippers' woes. Lue pulled all his starters within the next few minutes.
With just 12 games left in their season, the fourth-seeded Clippers (44-26) are running out of time to build momentum ahead of the playoffs. In the wake of their recent struggles, they are also in danger of falling to the fifth seed or lower, with the Pelicans (44-27) and Suns (42-29) lurking behind them.
Could Russell Westbrook be the answer to their troubles? The former MVP is set to rejoin the squad for Monday's game against the Pacers after missing 12 games with a hand injury.
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