Clippers
The Clippers currently sit in seventh place in the Western Conference and seem to be headed in the wrong direction despite starting the likes of Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook.
“For us, we just got to stay the course, got to be mentally tough, mentally strong, can’t give in, and just got to be tougher,” coach Tyronn Lue said, via Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “That’s the bottom line. When stuff doesn’t go your way, it shows you what you’re made of. I’m confident that we have a good team and they have to be the same way. They’ve got to feel the same confidence.
“I don’t care about missed shots, it’s going to happen. You’re going to turn the ball over some, but you can’t give in and my thing is just having that toughness and that mindset that, OK, things are not going well, then let’s do something about it.”
George agreed with Lue, as he Clippers had lost four straight through Thursday.
” These are games that we can [not] allow ourselves to slip, and these [are] the games you shoot yourself in the foot when it comes to the end of the season, and we look at where we’re at and we’re not happy with where we’re at,” George said, via Youngmisuk. “So we gotta have some desperation going into these games.”
Mavericks
Star guard Luka Doncic scored 42 points in the Mavericks’ win over the 76ers on Thursday. Fellow str guard Kyrie Irving scored 40.
It may not be what the Mavs envisioned when they traded for Irving in February, but it worked.
“Luka was ready for the party,” Irving told reporters. “I was ready for the party tonight. It was one of those games where we had some special performances. I’m just grateful that the work translated because it could have gone either way.”
Irving and Doncic became just the fifth pair of teammates to score at least 40 in the same game in 30 years (in regulation).
“If I had to pay to watch someone play, it would be him for sure,” Doncic said of Irving. “Because some of those moves are incredible.”
- Don’t look now, but the Mavs are getting ready to host the Suns on Sunday. That means Irving will face former Nets teammate Kevin Durant, now with Phoenix, for the first time this season. Just imagine a Mavs-Suns playoff series, which is entirely possible.
Spurs
If you thought the Spurs have been trying — purposely or not — to improve their chances in the Victor Wembanyama sweepstakes and NBA Draft lottery, well, look no further than their performance since the start of 2023.
Since Jan. 1, they’re just 4-23, with a 16-game losing streak. That said, they’ve won two straight. And despite all this, they still “lead” the Rockets by 1.5 games in the Western Conference.
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