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Three Clippers Players Who Need to Step Up After 1-6 Start This Season
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- Three Clippers Players Who Need to Step Up After 1-6 Start This Season
(Kiyoshi Mio-Imagn Images)
The Los Angeles Clippers won their season opener against the Sacramento Kings on Oct. 21 and have not won since.
The sixth straight loss came on Monday night at Intuit Dome, where the Toronto Raptors outscored them 47-27 in the fourth quarter to turn a 91-78 deficit into a 125-118 win.
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Injuries are a big part of this story, with forward Rui Hachimura missing Monday's game with a quad injury, forward Derrick Jones Jr. sitting with a knee issue, and guard Bradley Beal and forward Brandon Ingram still out.
Guard Max Strus did make his season debut and scored 11 points in 23 minutes after recovering from a partial plantar fascia tear in his right foot.
Even so, the healthy players have to be better, and three of them stand out to me.
Darius Garland Has to Protect the Ball
Guard Darius Garland is averaging 20.1 points and 6.6 assists, so the effort is there, but he is also turning the ball over 5.4 times per game and shooting 32.7% from 3.
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He had 16 points and eight assists against Toronto with seven turnovers, and he owned those mistakes after the game .
The Clippers are asking him to carry the offense with so many players out, and that is a heavy load, but a lead guard cannot give the ball away that often and still close out games.
Cutting those turnovers in half would change a lot of these fourth quarters.
Keaton Wagler Needs His Shot to Fall
Guard Keaton Wagler is scoring 12.1 points per game, but he is shooting 29.0% from the field and 30.3% from 3 while playing 25 minutes a night off the bench, and he had six points on 2-of-5 shooting against the Raptors.
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Guard Kris Dunn has said he is not worried about Wagler's slow start , and I agree the talent is there.
This team still needs a second scorer next to Garland right now, and Wagler is in the best spot to be that player.
Brook Lopez Has to Stay on the Floor
Center Brook Lopez scored 12 points against Toronto, but he fouled out in just 22 minutes, and Dunn fouled out too.
The Clippers were called for 34 fouls, according to The Sporting Tribune , the Raptors went 31-of-48 at the line, and coach Tyronn Lue said Toronto's size gave his team trouble around the rim once Lopez was gone.
Lopez is averaging 12.6 points in 22.0 minutes, and his size and rim protection are needed more than ever with Hachimura and Jones both day-to-day.
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Strus, for his part, did not sound worried after the game.
"I don't think there's a reason to hit the panic button," Strus said. "It's growing pains. We'll be all right."
He could be right, since guard Kobe Sanders scored a career-high 26 points and forward Isaiah Jackson added 19 off the bench.
The Clippers have led in plenty of these games before letting them slip, and the fifth straight loss at Golden State showed how much the defense is still struggling.
The Miami Heat at Intuit Dome on Nov. 4 is the next chance to finally finish one off, and Garland, Wagler and Lopez can make the biggest difference.
