INGLEWOOD, Calif. — When the LA Clippers lost at home to the Oklahoma City Thunder on Nov. 4, it dropped their record to 3-4. They had a losing record for the next 125 days, with the nadir coming on Dec. 18 — a loss in Oklahoma City that dropped them to 6-21.
But after beating the New York Knicks 126-118 Monday night at Intuit Dome, the Clippers finally got back to .500 with 18 games left to play. The win, combined with the Golden State Warriors’ 119-116 loss at Utah, means that the Clippers have sole possession of eighth place in the Western Conference, as well. It’s the first time the Clippers have been in the West’s top eight since Nov. 2, when they were in a three-way tie for fifth with a 3-2 record. It’s been quite a comeback for a team that was as low as 14th in the West in late December.
“It means a lot,” said Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue. “Just about our guys in the locker room, just staying with it, like I talked about earlier. Continue to fight, continue to compete. And we thought we should have been better, and we could have been better. Injuries hurt us. But this team, ever since I’ve been here for six years, our guys always continue to keep fighting when our backs’ against the wall. And I credit all my coaching staff, just for doing a great job, like I said earlier. Just staying with it, being positive, continue to help these guys get better. And you know, to start 6-21 and be .500 right now, it’s a big thing for us.”
Lue declared before a December win over the Lakers that he wanted the Clippers to focus on being 35-20 the rest of the season. Through Dec. 19, the Clippers had the 23rd-ranked offense and the 26th-ranked defense in the NBA, and were on the wrong end of the best long-range shooting in the league, allowing 38.9 percent on opponents’ 3s.
But since Dec. 20, only the San Antonio Spurs and Boston Celtics have a better record than the Clippers, who have won 26 of their last 37 games. In that time, the defense ranks 13th in the NBA, while the offense ranks fourth. The defense has improved to 10th in 3-point percentage allowed (35.0) since Dec. 20, while the Clippers lead the NBA in free throw attempt rate in that span.
The driving force of the turnaround has been All-Star Kawhi Leonard, who scored a team-high 29 points on 10-for-19 shooting and 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Leonard has scored at least 20 points in all 42 games he’s played since Nov. 28, a career-high streak and the second-longest streak in Clippers franchise history behind Hall of Famer Bob McAdoo’s 57. It’s also the second-longest active streak in the NBA behind Shai Gilgeous-Alexander’s 126, which is tied with Wilt Chamberlain’s all-time mark. Leonard has averaged 29.5 points per game since Dec. 20, fifth in the NBA. But Leonard was sure to tell his teammates that .500 isn’t the goal, and that there’s more work to be done.
“It’s cool, but the job ain’t done, the season’s not over,” Leonard said. “I mean, it’s what’s expected. Like I told the fellas, we don’t train to lose, we train to win. … Like I said, job is not done, we still go games to play. So it’s nothing to be happy about.”
That sentiment was echoed by Leonard’s new teammate Darius Garland, who has made an instant impact as a Clipper. Garland debuted as a reserve a week ago and started his first game with his new team Saturday in Memphis, a 19-point comeback win the night after the Clippers squandered an opportunity to reach .500 in San Antonio by blowing a 25-point lead. The Clippers are now 4-0 when Garland plays and are outscoring foes by 55 points in his minutes.
“I came in just to play games,” Garland said after scoring 23 points against the Knicks and reaching the 30-minute mark for the first time since Jan. 12 as a Cleveland Cavalier. “I mean, that’s what we do: put in work all season to win games. So I mean, it’s exciting to be back to .500. But we’ve got a lot more ways to go. So we’re not done yet.”
The Clippers journey to .500 has been a long one. There were waves of injuries in November, most notably to Leonard, followed by season-ending hip surgery for shooting guard Bradley Beal, and the first of what wound up being two right MCL sprains for forward Derrick Jones Jr. The Clippers sent franchise legend point guard Chris Paul home in the middle of an early December road trip. James Harden and Ivica Zubac, the second and third best players on the team, were traded the week of the deadline. Garland didn’t debut for a month as the Clippers managed his toe injuries following the trade with the Cavaliers, while fellow newcomers Bennedict Mathurin and Isaiah Jackson had to adjust after arriving from the Indiana Pacers.
Mathurin has been solid and had a strong game against the Knicks, coming off the bench to lead the Clippers by outscoring all of the Knicks reserves 28-14.
“Just constant communication, talking to the guys, showing them film,” Lue said about integrating new players while trying get back to .500. “Our coaches have been doing a good job showing them film, what we need from them, what we need them to do. … But those guys come in, fresh blood, ready to play. Having something to prove, you know, themselves. And they’ve been doing a really good job.”
The Clippers have more they need to do under adverse circumstances. Rookie center Yanic Konan Niederhäuser is out for the season with a Lisfranc injury to his right foot suffered last week against the Pacers that will require surgery, forcing Jackson into a backup role behind 37-year-old starter Brook Lopez. Forward John Collins will miss another week due to a neck strain. Leonard and Garland are on minutes restrictions, forcing Lue to use players like Kris Dunn for more minutes than he’d prefer.
But the Clippers have come this far. On Wednesday, they will host a Minnesota Timberwolves team playing on the second night of a back-to-back. It will be an opportunity for the Clippers to say they have a winning record for the first time since they were 3-2.
“It’s just a number,” Garland says. “As I said before, we’re not done yet. We still got a lot of games still left to go. And hopefully we win a couple of those games. So just keep pushing, keep working on ourselves. Don’t worry about anybody else. We got to get better as a team, especially with our new guys. Just get acclimated and everything like that. So yeah, we just worry about the Clippers over here.”