LOS ANGELES — Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Luke Kennard should look at all the bodies crowding his space and hands blocking his view these days and feel flattered.

The Clippers’ opponents, they really care. About him.

That’s a natural reaction when a guy is sitting atop the league in 3-point shooting percentage – tied with Phoenix’s Cameron Johnson, both players hitting at a rate of 44.8% – and was the runner-up in the NBA’s 3-point contest at All-Star weekend.

Kennard cares too, though, which is why he – still wearing his Pacific blue City Edition uniform – beelined right back onto the court after Friday’s loss at Crytpo.com Arena.

He’d just shot 1 for 5 from the field, and 1 for 4 from 3-point range, in the Clippers’ lopsided 122-97 loss to Philadelphia, their fifth consecutive, and he wasn’t going home until he saw some more shots go through.

“Luke, after the game, he wanted to get up some 3s,” said Isaiah Hartenstein, who accompanied his buddy back out onto the court after the defeat, which equaled the Clippers’ longest skid since Jan. 10-18, 2019.

“He thought that he hasn’t been shooting that good,” Hartenstein said. “But I think there was a stat that they looked up – the last 10 games, he was still 48%.”

Indeed, between March 3-22, Kennard shot 48.1% from 3, making an average of 2.6 3s per game in that span.

“But I think it’s good,” Hartenstein said of Kennard’s compulsion to keep shooting Friday. “He’s got a high standing and him going out and shooting some more gives him confidence that, to me, he’s the best shooter in the league. Him just going out there, really working, that tells me a lot about him.”

Luke Kennard — 1 for 5 for 6 points in the Clippers’ 122-97 loss tonight to Philly — headed right back out to the court with Isaiah Hartenstein. pic.twitter.com/YqJAZ59pYE

— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) March 26, 2022

Whether Kennard can talk himself into seeing those swarming defenders as a sign of respect or whether his own standards help him deal with the extra attention, that might prove secondary to how he actually, physically feels.

With seven regular-season games to go, the 25-year-old Kennard has played a career-high 1,757 minutes, more than everyone on the short-handed Clippers besides Reggie Jackson and Terance Mann. And Kennard isn’t running to a corner and waiting for the ball to find him. He’s always in motion, slipping past screens and snaking through defenses, trying to get open and in the process logging, per NBA.com/stats, 2 miles per game.

And often doing it with the weight of an offense on his shoulders.

“He could be a little tired,” Lue said Friday night as Kennard continued to shoot on the court a few paces away. “I think he’s worn down, especially the way he has to play, coming off a lot of screens, constant movement.

“If he’s not scoring in that second unit, it’s hard for us to score the basketball,” Lue added, repeating a familiar mantra: “When he has a chance to take those shots – open shots – he has to take those shots. Because the way they’re playing, he’s not going to get too many of them.”

It’s possible, of course, that Kennard could get cleaner looks if the Clippers can distract defenses by putting another scoring threat on the court.

Another threat such as, say, seven-time All-Star Paul George, who was averaging nearly 25 points per game before an elbow injury sidelined him in December.

George participated in practice and shootaround Thursday and Friday and seems primed to return to action in the near future, although Lue declined to divulge exactly when that could be. Nevertheless, Amir Coffey and Ivica Zubac both characterized George as looking “great” out on the court again.

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“(Kennard is) coming off of pick-and-rolls getting blitzed,” Hartenstein said, comparing the level of attention to what three-time scoring champion James Harden receives. “And I’m like, ‘You’re not getting the same open shots as you’re used to as if you had maybe PG, or someone else on the court.’ I think when they come back, he’ll get more open looks.”

Until then, Hartenstein is going to stay in Kennard’s ear – and at his side – reminding his teammate to keep shooting.

“I mean, he’s still getting good looks, and whatever shot he takes I think is always going in,” Hartenstein said. “His attempts have been down (from 6.9 3-point attempts per game in January to 5.1 this month). We talk a lot, so I try to find him as much as possible just to get him going.

“To me, he’s still the best shooter in the league.”

Isaiah on his postgame work with Luke: https://t.co/JkBFElgEPz pic.twitter.com/fpYITkgnQq

— Mirjam Swanson (@MirjamSwanson) March 26, 2022