Clippers’ Tyronn Lue: Like my chances if we get to playoffs

The Clippers don’t look anything like the group that opened the season with title buzz, and coach Tyronn Lue is perfectly fine with that.

What hasn’t changed, he says, is the goal.

“Man, we’re playing to win,” Lue said Friday before a 125-122 loss to the Lakers, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin. “I don’t care if it’s young, old, toddlers … whoever’s on the floor, we’re trying to win. There’s no other reason to play.”

That mindset mattered early, because the Clippers were a mess. They opened 6-21. Injuries piled up. Expectations collapsed.

In December, with L.A. buried in the standings, Lue challenged his team to finish 35-20 the rest of the way just to get back to even.

They didn’t hit that mark, but they responded. The Clippers went 21-8 over the next stretch and sit at 27-29, suddenly relevant again.

Along the way, the roster flipped. James Harden was sent to the Cavaliers for Darius Garland, while Ivica Zubac was dealt to the Pacers for Bennedict Mathurin. Younger. Faster. Different.

Kawhi Leonard remains the constant. Asked recently if the Clippers are still contenders, Leonard didn’t sugarcoat it.

“I think it’s over now,” he said. “Every day is a day to grow and get better.”

Lue took it as reality, not surrender.

“This is a different team,” he said. “We’ve got to play different.”

And if that path leads to the playoffs?

“If I get in a series,” Lue said, “I like my chances.”