LOS ANGELES — Whatever the Clippers had seemingly is gone.
The focus. The intensity. The defensive grit. The consistency. The winning.
The Clippers lost for the fourth time in their past five games, this time to a team that is fighting for a playoff spot. The struggling Atlanta Hawks handed them a dispirited 110-93 loss Sunday at Crypto.com Arena.
Coach Tyronn Lue said again Sunday that his focus in the final stretch before the playoffs is: one, health; two, develop the right habits, and three improve on everything else, such as rebounding, transition defense and spacing.
“It’s the same thing we say every single night,” Lue said.
His message isn’t getting through, evidenced by the turnovers (16), defensive breakdowns, especially in transition and the overall what-me-worry attitude they displayed against the lowly Hawks (30-37).
When the Clippers (42-24) were stringing together winning streaks of nine and five games before the All-Star break, they displayed a grittiness and willingness to grind out tough victories. On Sunday, they fell behind by 21 points in the first half, 27 in the third and didn’t come close to slowing Atlanta’s deep attack the rest of the way.
Of the 11 Atlanta players who logged minutes, 10 scored, led by Dejounte Murray’s 21 points. De’Andre Hunter scored 20 points, Jalen Johnson added 18 points, 12 rebounds and six assists, Clint Capela had 15 points and 13 rebounds and Bogdan Bogdanovic 11 points.
The Hawks, who are fighting to stay in the play-in picture, exploited the Clippers inside and out in the first half, finding the paint for 30 of their 61-halftime points and another 20 off their fast break, many ending in a 3-pointer. They connected on 9 of 18 3-pointers in the first half, frustrating even the most even-keeled Clipper.
After Bogdanovic buried his third shot from 3-point range, Kawhi Leonard jogged down the court shaking his head. It was that kind of night.
And it got worse. The Clippers missed 10 of their 12 shots outside the paint and attempted just two in close range (making one) in the third quarter as the Hawks’ lead swelled to 88-62.
The Clippers managed to cut the lead to 14,100-86, late in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough to avoid another loss.
One change Lue is trying is having Paul George handle the ball more often. He said that has been the plan as the playoffs neared.
George finished with 26 points on 8-of-17 shooting, including 4-of-12 3-pointers, but once again it was Leonard doing most of the heavy lifting. He had 28 points on 8-of-17 shooting, made 3 of 8 3-pointers and 9 of 10 free throws, to go along with two rebounds, two assists and one blocked shot.
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Injuries might have hastened Lue’s decision to involve George more in the ball-handling duties. Norman Powell is the latest player to sit out a game, missing Sunday’s contest because of a contusion on his left leg that he suffered in the loss to the New Orleans Pelicans.
His absence comes as James Harden returned Sunday after missing the last game because of a strained left shoulder but was largely ineffective offensively. He hit his first basket at the 11:01 mark of the fourth quarter after missing his first seven shots.
Lue said there is no timetable for Russell Westbrook’s return to the court after breaking his left hand.
And without either Powell or Westbrook, the Clippers were missing the spark the two provided off the bench. Bones Hyland (2), Amir Coffey (2) and P.J. Tucker (3) failed to make much of a difference as the Clippers got just 17 points from their bench.