Monday's Loss to Spurs Revealed Glaring Clippers Weakness

Some say, "There's no such thing as losing. You win, or you learn."

That is not the case for the LA Clippers. History suggests they lose, lose again, and refuse to learn from their unfortunate patterns.

The championship narrative starring Kawhi Leonard has repeatedly been drafted, crumpled, and revised since his arrival in 2019. Much of the undoing has involved a revolving door of his supporting cast, and Monday's loss against San Antonio at home showed the glaring cracks in this newly renovated roster.

Out with an ankle injury, the Clippers welcomed the Spurs at the Intuit Dome following a catastrophic meltdown in their last meeting. Despite being Claw-less for the rematch, Ty Lue's men managed to crawl away with a narrow 115-119 loss.

One of the flaws exposed during Monday's loss is Bennedict Mathurin's inability to supplement the scoring load in Leonard's absence.

Mathurin Has to Step Up as the Offensive Engine in Kawhi Leonard's Absence

After arriving from Indiana in the Ivica Zubac trade, Mathurin has proved to be a consistent scoring provider for the Clippers. In his second game, he clocked in a 38-point performance in a narrow win over the Denver Nuggets. Since then, he has averaged 19.9 points in red, white, and blue. Furthermore, he consistently helped on the boards and looked improved defensively as the Clippers embarked on a late-season surge after the trade deadline.

Monday's loss, however, saw one of Mathurin's not-so-great performances in LA.

Despite scoring 16 points in 34 minutes off the bench, the 23-year-old's efficiency dropped when the Clippers could have and probably had a better chance at winning had he picked his shots better. Mathruin went 5-12 on the field and 0-4 from beyond the arc.

Although the scoring -- with his four rebounds and three assists -- was still respectable off the bench, shooting 41.7% is quite a dip from his recent performances above 50%. With another miserable night from three, Mathurin is now shooting 18.3% from three as a Clipper.

Why is this alarming?

Leonard is prone to injury and will undoubtedly be unavailable again at some point before and during the postseason. Not that the Clippers are guaranteed title contention with him on the court. But Kawhi's presence undeniably raises the Clippers' level of play.

Without a Paul George or James Harden to fill the scoring void in Leonard's absence, the Clippers are left pointing fingers with nobody willing or able to shoulder that weight. In the search for Batman to their Superman, they are left with a group of Robins capable of occasional explosions. But five sidekicks don't make a superhero.

Other notable performances from Monday included Darius Garland's team-high 25 and Jordan Miller's 22 points off the bench.

Nonetheless, they seemingly looked lost without Leonard as the nucleus of the offense. As a result, Victor Wembanyama's 21 points and 13 rebounds spearheaded the visitors to victory.

Apart from Mathurin's ineffectiveness, the loss also exposed Brook Lopez as a liability on defense, as the Clippers were outrebounded, 52-37.

Hitting the panic button would be warranted for Clippers fans as the team desperately sinks its nails in the eighth seed in the West behind back-to-back losses at home to the Kings and Spurs.

Just last week, the Clippers raved on social media about how they had overcome a hideous 6-21 start this season. Today, they're back on the tight rope, 34-34, likely to slip deeper into Play-In territory.

As cracks appear on the thin ice they stand on, LA has 14 games to turn the tide, or at least do some damage control heading into the postseason.

The scrambling Clippers will take on the 12th-seeded Pelicans in back-to-back games to kick off the final stretch of their campaign as they desperately hope for Leonard's return in one of those games.