Two squads mired in skids at a bad point in the season meet Tuesday night when the Phoenix Suns host the Los Angeles Clippers.
The underachieving Suns have lost 11 of their last 14 games and sat four games out of the final Western Conference play-in spot entering Monday’s games.
The Clippers have dropped five of their last six games and shared the sixth-best record in the West with the Golden State Warriors entering Monday. The top six finishers earn a guaranteed playoff spot.
Los Angeles is completing a stretch of eight straight road games — the last two were losses to the Los Angeles Lakers — as it takes on perhaps the most disappointing team in the league.
Phoenix employs two big-time stars in Kevin Durant and Devin Booker and can’t seem to turn around their fortunes.
After the Suns fell five games below .500 with Sunday’s 116-98 loss to the visiting Minnesota Timberwolves, Durant was highly upset with his club’s play. He also cited his disappointment that Phoenix committed 22 turnovers that led to 40 Minnesota points.
“We didn’t play up to our standards at all,” Durant said. “We embarrassed the fans and we embarrassed ourselves the way we played. I want us to be better.”
Phoenix looked intent on being a contender when it ran out to an 8-1 start. But the Suns are just 20-32 since their strong opening stretch.
Now the odds are stacked against the Suns to reach the play-in round.
“We’ve got to go on a run, but it’s got to start,” Phoenix coach Mike Budenholzer said. “There’s no doubt that the standings, the circumstances that we’re in, there’s an awareness and we’ve got to do something to change it.”
Durant had 26 points and 10 rebounds against Minnesota but committed four turnovers. Bradley Beal (18 points, four turnovers) and Booker (17 points, six turnovers) also were sloppy with the ball.
The Clippers’ losses to the Lakers were by scores of 106-102 and 108-102, but the margin of the second setback was misleading.
The Clippers never led Sunday and trailed by 21 points late in the third quarter before narrowing the gap.
Clippers coach Tyronn Lue applauded the comeback bid as opposed to calling it a night.
“I liked our fight to come back, didn’t give in,” Lue said. “Being able to play through adversity. Being able to play through missed shots. So, I give our guys credit for that. But it’s a long season. It’s a hard season. Every night is going to be a tough game and we understand that.”
Kawhi Leonard was a bright spot Sunday with season-highs of 33 points and 10 rebounds. His 40 minutes also were a season-best.
But seeing another loss added to the ledger was-n’t pleasing to Leonard.
“Just got to get better,” Leonard said. “It’s not about individual accolades. We got to get a team win. And I think I said we got to limit our mistakes and hopefully the ball falls for us in the future.”
The Clippers also received a blow Sunday when Norman Powell departed with right hamstring soreness in the opening quarter. He has been ruled out against the Suns with what was described as a strain.
Powell had missed the previous five games with a left knee injury. He leads Los Angeles with a 23.8 scoring average.
Phoenix is 3-0 against the Clippers this season with the victories coming by a combined 11 points. One was decided in overtime.
Leonard missed the first two meetings. Booker scored 40 points in the second matchup.
–Field Level Media
