Tyronn Lue’s superstar pairing combined to shoot 0 for 9 down the stretch of the Clippers’ 105-100 loss in Milwaukee on Sunday, turning the clutch moments of that game into the trivia answer to: Which team in the past 10 years had the most misses without a make in the final four minutes of regulation in an NBA game?
Lue’s reaction to Kawhi Leonard and Paul George’s nationally televised, slow-motion, late-game crash a couple of days later?
“I got to be better putting those guys in position to get to their spots and then get the spacing right, so that those guys can make plays for themselves and one another,” the Clippers’ coach said Tuesday before tip-off in Boston.
“When you have great players, they want to close those games out – that is what they are there for. But with that being said, we still got to make the right play and I got to get those guys in the right spots to make those plays.”
It’s not the first time this season Lue has shouldered the blame after a defeat. Just last week, after the Clippers lost to Memphis to start their current road trip, Lue expressed a similar “it’s-on-me” sentiment: “We gotta take the challenge, starting with myself first.”
That propensity to look inward is a notable aspect of Lue’s approach this season, his first guiding the Clippers after his first head coaching job in Cleveland, where he led the LeBron James-led Cavaliers to an NBA title and two subsequent NBA Finals appearances.
“I’ll take the blame, whatever it was, whatever we’re not doing right, it’s all on the coach,” Lue said before the Clippers returned to defeat the Grizzlies, 119-99, the next night, when they held Memphis to 54 points in the paint – 18 fewer than the night before.
“You gotta look yourself in the mirror and see what you can do better for your team. And so with that being said, I know we got to get into the ball better, you know, our bigs have to be up a little bit more, gotta drop and ice them on the pick and roll, and we got to do a better job of getting back in transition.
“So, I have no problem taking the blame,” Lue continued. “But it’s things that we can correct, and our players, you know we got to be better as well, they got to take accountability as well. And I think they have, so it’s something that we can fix, easy things, and we’re going to do it.”
That personal accountability doesn’t go unnoticed – including by opposing coaches, who, like him, appreciate the difficulties of steering a team through the NBA’s challenging terrain.
“He’s got great perspective, he sees the game, he’s got a great way of getting the most out of his team,” Celtics coach Brad Stevens said of Lue, a former Boston assistant. “He’s so well-liked and has such a great reputation. I’ve just gotten to know him since we’ve both been head coaches and I just can’t say enough good things about him as a coach. … He just has a feel for pushing all the right buttons and I got a lot of respect for him. I really like him.
“Happy he’s back on the sideline, because there’s not many better coaches out there, if any. He’s awfully good.”
COFFEY LATER?
The Clippers could go for some Amir Coffey down the stretch.
The Athletic’s Shams Charania reported Tuesday that the NBA plans to revoke the 50-game limit on all two-way contracts for the remaining season and postseason – a move that essentially will open two additional roster spots and potentially help teams cope with being shorthanded if they’re down players due to coronavirus health and safety protocols.
For the Clippers, the move could allow them to keep Coffey – who is in his second season as a two-way player for the Clippers – in the mix longer.
So far, the 6-foot-7 wing has appeared in 20 NBA games – including four in the Clippers’ most recent homestand, when they shuttled him cross-country, from the G League bubble near Orlando, to help fill in a depleted roster.
Coffey did more than just show up; he scored 15 points in a victory over Miami and 13 more in a loss to Utah, two games in which he combined to shoot 10 for 13 from the field and 7 for 9 from 3-point range.
He’s since flown back to the bubble, where his return required another four-day quarantine alone in a hotel room. He appeared in G League games on Sunday and Monday.
Having Coffey available later at the NBA level could benefit the Clippers, Lue said.
“Yeah it could, especially with the way he has developed, with the way he played that Miami game and the confidence he has now, it would be good for us,” Lue said. “And it would be good for a young guy as well.”
Sources: The NBA and NBPA are planning to eliminate the 50-game limit for two-way contract players this season and to allow two-way players to be eligible for the playoffs, pending Board approval.
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) March 2, 2021
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