MIAMI (AP) \u2014 Chris Paul is going to the Hall of Fame in a few years. James Harden is headed there as well. Kawhi Leonard seems another lock to get the call, and it shouldn\u2019t be a surprise if coach Tyronn Lue does one day, too.<\/p>\n
The Los Angeles Clippers have a lot of big names.<\/p>\n
They also have a lot of big problems.<\/p>\n
A largely lackluster 140-123 loss Monday night in Miami dropped the Clippers, generally considered a championship contender entering the season, to 5-16. Yes, Bradley Beal is hurt and lost for the season. Yes, the team is old \u2014 as in oldest-team-in-NBA-history old. But the Western Conference is already getting away from the Clippers, who are ahead of only New Orleans on that side of the standings.<\/p>\n
\u201cEverybody wants to get a win,\u201d Leonard said. \u201cAnd we\u2019re not finding one at the moment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Here\u2019s just some of what happened on Monday night: The Clippers missed 11 consecutive shots and let Miami go on a 30-2 run in the first half, gave up 12 unanswered points in 122 seconds to open the second half, and just when it seemed there was a tiny chance \u2014 what had been a 38-point Heat lead was trimmed to 12 with 2:00 left \u2014 Miami scored nine straight points in 52 seconds. Lue took out his entire starting five just 1:26 into the second half; four eventually got back into the game, while Harden never returned to the floor.<\/p>\n
Why? It seemed like a benching, but that wasn\u2019t clear. Lue went to the Clippers\u2019 postgame interview room almost immediately after the game ended, saw nobody inside, and departed because no one was there to ask questions. Lue couldn\u2019t be faulted for that. But it doesn\u2019t seem as though the Clippers have any answers right now anyway.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would have never guessed that they were going to be 5-16 and where they\u2019re at right now,\u201d said Miami\u2019s Norman Powell \u2014 who is on pace for the best season of his career, even better than the career-best numbers he put up last season with Los Angeles.<\/p>\n
The Heat are thrilled to have Powell. The Clippers are probably kicking themselves for moving him. Powell alone might not have been enough to prevent this miserable start, but he\u2019s clearly missed. And there\u2019s already some grumbling around the league about how Oklahoma City \u2014 the defending NBA champion off to a 20-1 start this season \u2014 could end up with the Clippers\u2019 first-round draft pick as part of the Paul George deal that sent Shai Gilgeous-Alexander to the Thunder years ago.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a fine line in this league, particularly now when there\u2019s parity and way more teams going for it and then you\u2019re seeing this new wave of teams that haven\u2019t necessarily been at the top of their conferences and see opportunity,\u201d Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said after Miami\u2019s win over the Clippers. \u201cThere\u2019s a lot of younger, ambitious teams. But those are Hall of Famers over there.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s going to take a Hall of Fame effort to right this ship.<\/p>\n
Only seven teams in NBA history have started 5-16, or worse, and made the playoffs. It happened somewhat recently; New Orleans pulled it off in the 2021-22 season. But only one of those seven teams recovered from such a bad start and won a playoff series \u2014 the 1977-78 Seattle SuperSonics, a team near and dear to the heart of Clippers owner Steve Ballmer, who tried to save the Sonics before he wound up buying the Clippers.<\/p>\n
\u201cJust got to keep scrapping, got to keep belief,\u201d Lue said before Monday\u2019s game. \u201cIt\u2019s not going to be easy, but if you do things the right way things are going to start falling in line.\u201d<\/p>\n
There\u2019s three-fourths of the season left to play, but the Clippers \u2014 a franchise with 14 consecutive winning seasons, the longest active streak in the league \u2014 sure seem to be running out of time to figure out how this will work.<\/p>\n
Otherwise, a team that hoped to play into May and June might see big changes long before then.<\/p>\n
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Around The NBA analyzes the biggest topics in the NBA during the season.<\/p>\n
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