Clippers guard Norman Powell shoots over Toronto Raptors guard Gradey Dick during the first half of the Clippers’ 105-103 win Saturday at the Intuit Dome. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
Slowly and deliberately, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue climbed the steps to the podium for his postgame news conference and plopped down in his chair. He shook his head.
“I’m tired,” Lue said.
And so were his players.
The Clippers’ fatigue was evident Saturday in how they blew a 14-point lead against the Toronto Raptors at the Intuit Dome. Their weariness showed in how James Harden and Norman Powell missed three of the team’s six free throws down the stretch. Their exhaustion showed after heavy minutes for Harden, Powell and Ivica Zubac pushed them to their limit.
Ultimately, the Clippers escaped with a 105-103 win that was decided in the final seconds.
Read more: Norman Powell continues to shine, scoring 31 in Clippers’ win over Kings
The Clippers have played four games in six days. In 10 games this season, they’ve played three sets of back-to-backs.
They won their fourth consecutive game, but it took Harden playing more than 34 minutes to get 24 points, 12 rebounds and seven assists. Powell played 35:03 to get his 24 points and Zubac played 38:20 to get 14 points and 12 rebounds. It also took stellar defense by Terance Mann for the Clippers to close out with a win.
“I knew a few of our guys were tired,” Lue said. “But this was one we had to fight through mentally. I know Norm was tired from the jump and what he has been doing for us offensively. We needed every minute he could give us tonight, and I know he was tired. Zu was a little tired. But we had to win this game.
“We’ll worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. But today was a winnable game. We’re up so we had to finish the game out and guys had to play a little bit more minutes than you would like on a back-to-back, but we needed the win.”
Clippers guard Kris Dunn celebrates after dunking against the Raptors in the first half Saturday. (Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)
After Toronto’s Immanuel Quickley tied the score 102-102 on a three-pointer with 39…
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