It was yet another disappointing end to the season for the Los Angeles Clippers as they lost in the first round of the playoffs to the Phoenix Suns.
Injuries at the worst possible time once again doomed them, as they were without Paul George, and Kawhi Leonard only played two games in the series. In his postgame media session, head coach Tyronn Lue reflected on his tenure with the team.
“I think the encouraging thing is, with PG and Kawhi healthy, we haven’t lost a series yet,” Lue said. “It’s always in the back of your mind like what-if? It’s easy to say what-if because a lot of guys get hurt, but it’s just been our luck the last three years. If you look back to my first year taking over, we did some really good things and Kawhi (Leonard) tears his ACL, then he misses the whole next season. But we haven’t lost a series with our whole team so that’s encouraging.”
(starts at 3:22 mark):
The last time the Clippers had Kawhi and George healthy in the postseason was the Bubble when Doc Rivers was the head coach. They blew a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets back then, which is what led to Lue being hired. In Lue’s first season, Kawhi tore his ACL in Game 4 of the Conference Semifinals against the Utah Jazz in 2021.
That caused Leonard to miss the rest of the playoffs and the Clippers lost to the Suns in the Conference Finals without him. Kawhi missed the whole of the next season but they still made it to the play-in tournament without him. Unfortunately, George then tested positive for COVID-19 before their second play-in game, and without their two stars, they lost to the New Orleans Pelicans.
The Clippers have just had rotten luck, with their two stars managing to play in just 142 games together in four seasons. They have won 67.6% of those games but their untimely injuries have ensured that postseason success eludes the franchise. It also seems there is some tension behind the scenes, as Leonard reportedly doesn’t communicate with his teammates or coaches. There are some very difficult decisions for the top brass to make in the coming months.
Tyronn Lue Blamed Their Playoff Exit On Injuries
Lue is clearly frustrated with all the injuries as anyone would be in his situation. When he was asked about the season not living up to their high expectations, he bluntly stated it was down to injuries. He added that if you take out the two best players on any team, they would have a hard time winning in the playoffs.
After a certain point though when this keeps happening, you do start wondering if they’ll ever have success with their two stars. Leonard has shown that he can’t stay healthy for long periods while George hasn’t managed to even play 60 games in any of the four regular seasons he has been with the franchise. It might be time to blow it up, but it is doubtful whether the Clippers would take that step.
We sincerely appreciate and respect you as a reader of our site. It would help us a lot if you follow us on Google News because of the latest update.
Thanks for following us. We really appreciate your support.
