Kawhi Leonard and Clippers can’t keep pace with Celtics in crunch time
Tyronn Lue learned to coach more than a decade ago by following former Boston assistant Tom Thibodeau into the Celtics’ office for 5:30 a.m. film breakdowns. He popped into the office .
His job, he admitted, didn’t really come with a formal description — then-coach Doc Rivers and Ainge created the role as a way of adding to the staff a former point guard they believed
But one of the responsibilities that eventually fell under Lue’s purview: Helping deliver honest assessments to stars such as Rajon Rondo, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett.
“To tell those guys the truth, look them in the eye and let them know they messed up really helped me along the way,” Lue said.
More than a decade later, at nearly the season’s midway point, the truth about the Clippers didn’t change much after a 116-110 loss in TD Garden to the Celtics:
In a Western Conference this muddled where no single contender has distanced itself from the chase pack, the injuries and inconsistency haven’t cost the Clippers much ground in the seeding race.
But with a front-loaded schedule that features only 21 games after the All-Star break, there will soon be increasingly fewer opportunities to find their foothold, to leave games like this feeling
“We got the guys to make plays, make shots, we got the guys to get stops,” said Paul George, who scored 24 points.
“We got the guys to make plays, make shots, we got the guys to get stops,” said Paul George, who scored 24 points.