Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue acknowledged Sacramento’s dominance following their 118-109 win on Saturday at the Intuit Dome. “They played better than we did. And we’ve never really caught a good rhythm offensively,” Lue said.
The coach pointed to Sacramento’s early speed and pressure as decisive factors. “I thought they started off the game, their speed and the force which they played with… offensively, they really took it to us and we were playing on our heels,” he explained.
Lue also reflected on defensive struggles. “We had to jump it up a little bit to try to get back in the game, but it was too late,” he said. He added, “Both is a bad combination. We were flat and we got outplayed as well.”
Kawhi Leonard scored 31 points before leaving with a sprained left ankle. When asked if he saw what happened to Leonard, Lue responded, “No.”
The coach praised John Collins’ energy coming off the bench. “Just trying to figure his way back into a rotation… playing with that second unit, guys he hasn’t played with yet before. I thought he was good. I thought his energy was good,” Lue said.
Lue emphasized that every game matters, regardless of opponent. “Every game is important, especially this late in the season… they played really well. Hats off to them,” he said.
The Clippers’ spacing issues affected Darius Garland’s production. “Just getting in a rhythm… them putting a five on KD, he just stayed in the paint kind of hurt our spacing,” Lue explained. “We know he can make shots. We know he can attack the paint and make plays, so he’s only going to get better at that.”
Sacramento’s balanced attack featured DeMar DeRozan with 27 points, Precious Achiuwa’s 25 points and 13 rebounds, and Russell Westbrook’s triple-double. Lue noted the Kings’ energy and switching as keys: “Pressure… he was great… running the floor, getting easy dunks, made some threes, and they really hurt us in that area.”
The Clippers fell to 34-33, ending their four-game winning streak, while Sacramento improved to 17-51 with three wins in their last four contests.
