The Clippers’ injury report listed Kawhi Leonard as out with right knee inflammation, the sixth consecutive game the All-Star forward has missed, which led to Coach Ty Lue being asked if his best player’s injury could bleed into the playoffs.
“No, not at as of right now,” Lue said before the Clippers ran out of steam during their 124-108 loss to the Phoenix Suns in a rematch Wednesday night at Crypto.com Arena.
The Clippers have two regular-season games left before the postseason starts on April 20, so at some point they hope to be whole with Leonard back in the lineup.
They were nowhere near that in this back-to-back game against the same Suns the Clippers beat in Phoenix on Tuesday night.
The Clippers had to make it happen without Paul George (left knee soreness), James Harden (right foot inflammation), Russell Westbrook (left hand contusion) and center Ivica Zubac (left ankle inflammation).
So, it was left up to starters Amir Coffey, P.J. Tucker, Mason Plumlee, Terance Mann and Bones Hyland to hold it down.
Even depleted, Lue had his group playing hard and with a purpose against a Suns team fighting for playoff positioning in the Western Conference.
“They competed, they scrapped, they played hard and had a chance,” Lue said. “Then down the stretch the game got away from them. Couldn’t make a shot. I think the guys got tired. I think Bones played the whole second half, along with Brandon (Boston Jr.). But overall, I thought they did a good job.”
The game gave Lue a chance to get an extended look at Hyland, who cooked the Suns with a career-high 37 points on 15-for-29 shooting in 43 minutes.
Boston Jr. got an opportunity to play more, and he did his thing with a season-high 23 points.
Tucker added a season-high 10 points, going four-for-five from the field.
“It was good to see Bones and Brandon get an opportunity to play and play at a high level for the most part,” Lue said. “So, just seeing those guys get a chance to play. I thought P.J. was really good. Didn’t want to bring him back, but I thought P.J. did a really good job as well.”
Hyland put on a show in the first half, hitting a step-back three-pointer to help the Clippers come back from 15 down in the second and take a 56-55 lead at the intermission.
He finished the game with nine assists, showing growth in his game by looking for teammates.
“Just playing free, man, just playing my game,” Hyland said. “Going out there and trying to win the game. My teammates told me to go out there and just be busy and that’s just what I do, go out there and play freely. I feel like I did a good job on that tonight.”
The Clippers led 106-101 in the fourth quarter, but the Suns went on a 19-2 run to open a 12-point lead L.A. could not overcome.
It became a struggle for the Clippers in the fourth quarter.
They scored just 15 points and made just 26.9% of their shots in the final 12 minutes, including 7.1% (one-for-14) from three.
Meanwhile, the Suns scored 32 points in the fourth and shot 57.1% from the field.
Devin Booker had 12 of his 37 in the fourth. Bradley had 26 points and Kevin Durant had 24 on 10-for-21 shooting.
The Clippers still maintained their fourth spot in the West, one game ahead of the fifth-seeded Dallas Mavericks.
The two teams will meet in the first round of the playoffs. It’s just a matter of who has home-court advantage.
With that in mind, Lue was asked when he would start prepping for the Mavericks.
“I’ve already started,” he said.