The Los Angeles Clippers may not be clicking through five regular season games, but that's not what was digging at coach Doc Rivers after a 121-104 loss to the Golden State Warriors. To Rivers, the problems throughout Wednesday night went beyond any failed schematic follow-through.
Doc Rivers said Clippers lacked ‘heart’ after blowout loss to Warriors
Clippers coach Doc Rivers ripped into his team Wednesday night after an ugly loss to the Golden State Warriors.
Ezra Shaw
A matchup against a Warriors team he said was playing with anger held quite a bit of value, so it was concerning that the Clippers not only were out-executed but overmatched from a competitive standpoint, according to the Orange County Register.
“We’re 3-1, and it’s great to be 3-1 and play poorly,” Rivers said. “It really is. But, you know when you’re not playing well, and you know when you’re not right. And I can sense it. But, I wanted to see this game. I could sense it, and it told me what I thought, if you want me to be honest.”
What Rivers thought was that the Warriors would sweep his Clippers if a playoff series started this week.
That the Clippers are struggling yet familiar with one another is concerning. The cautionary argument that this is a small sample size in a long season remains true as well. The middle ground is that there’s time to correct the mistakes, but a critical postgame assessment showed that Rivers wants to see changes and now.
By halftime on Wednesday, Los Angeles trailed 65-42 by allowing the Warriors to hit 68 percent of their shots and 9-of-13 three-pointers. Those numbers weren't as telling as the foul total of one, in Rivers' opinion.
“One foul? At halftime? Are you (expletive) kidding me?” Rivers said to the media. “That’s as bad as I’ve seen. Forget what we’ve got to fix. That, over anything, tells me we weren’t competitive.
“But what we lacked was heart. I don’t mind being tired, and we can use that as an excuse, but listen, I just know me. If I’m tired and getting my butt kicked, I’m going to leave the game with no fouls left. That, to me, was just weak on our part.”
Golden State’s accuracy would drop to 58 percent and 15-of-25 shooting from deep by the end of the blowout, but 13 second-half fouls led to Steve Kerr’s squad taking and making 18 free throws after only attempting two in the first half. A look at the Warriors shot chart makes it clear the Clippers weren’t doing much to stop them from any spot on the court.
After the game, Rivers was left musing about where the Clippers stand and how they can talk themselves out of the ugly start. It seems the head coach left it up to his players to read the morning paper and see it from his perspective. Let’s just say his postgame speech was short.
“I didn’t say much,” Rivers said. “I just let them blow smoke up each other’s asses. That’s all they did, in my opinion. I just think if you’re going to talk, you’ve got to be real. I’m not a big fan of group meetings unless they’re real group meetings. I think we’re getting close with the talk today, but we’re not there.”
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