{"id":688296,"date":"2026-03-30T16:57:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/688296\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T16:57:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T16:57:18","slug":"ty-lue-explains-how-clippers-bounced-back-from-6-21-start-to-season","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/688296\/","title":{"rendered":"Ty Lue Explains How Clippers Bounced Back from 6-21 Start to Season"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Many people counted the Los Angeles Clippers out after the team\u2019s disappointing 6-21 start to the season. And it seemed like an impossible goal when head coach Ty Lue challenged his team to go 35-20 for the remainder of the season to finish the campaign at .500. <\/p>\n<p>But the Clippers now have 39 wins and rank eighth in the Western Conference. Los Angeles also became the first team in NBA history to surpass the .500 mark after falling 15 or more games below it in a season.<\/p>\n<p>The Clippers\u2019 momentum continued on Sunday, as Los Angeles added a fifth game to its winning streak with a 127-113 victory over the Milwaukee Bucks. After the game, Lue explained why he thinks the team has been able to bounce back from the slow start.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think the biggest thing is a healthy Kawhi (Leonard), that\u2019s one,\u201d Lue said to <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/FlyByKnite\/status\/2038380682628808940?s=20\" rel=\"nofollow\">announcer Brian Sieman on Sunday<\/a>. \u201cAnd just the guys we got in the locker room, that\u2019s what I\u2019m most pleased about, because they could have easily gave up, they could have easily gave in \u2026\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Leonard missed 10 games in November with a foot and ankle sprain. But since he has returned, the 2026 NBA All-Star has shined for the Clippers. Leonard has also played in 59 games, which is the second-most of his injury-filled career with the Clippers.<\/p>\n<p><img data-od-unknown-tag=\"\" data-od-xpath=\"\/HTML\/BODY\/DIV[@class='elementor elementor-246476 elementor-location-single post-252104 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-clippers tag-clippers tag-darius-garland tag-kawhi-leonard tag-ty-lue mv-content-wrapper']\/*[2][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[3][self::DIV]\/*[6][self::FIGURE]\/*[1][self::IMG]\" fetchpriority=\"high\" data-dominant-color=\"362e25\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/kawhileonardgamewinner-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots the game winning shot against Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith (23), center Jay Huff (32) and guard Andrew Nembhard (2) in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.\" class=\"wp-image-252106 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #362e25; aspect-ratio:1.5004102684327747;width:676px;height:auto\" \/>Mar 27, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; LA Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard (2) shoots the game winning shot against Indiana Pacers guard Aaron Nesmith (23), center Jay Huff (32) and guard Andrew Nembhard (2) in the second half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Trading for Darius Garland Has Helped The Clippers\u2019 Comeback<\/p>\n<p>Trading for former Cleveland Cavaliers guard Darius Garland has also been beneficial for the Clippers this season. Since Garland\u2019s debut with the franchise on March 2, the Clippers are <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7156847\/2026\/03\/30\/darius-garland-clippers-cavaliers-career-dave-chappelle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">12-5<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe stuff he\u2019s brought to this team, it\u2019s extraordinary,\u201d Clippers center Brook Lopez said, per <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/athletic\/7156847\/2026\/03\/30\/darius-garland-clippers-cavaliers-career-dave-chappelle\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">The Athletic<\/a>. \u201cOnly he could do it. He\u2019s made a huge change, a huge positive change for this group.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Garland has averaged 21.3 points, 2.2 rebounds and seven assists in 13 games with the Clippers.<\/p>\n<p><img data-od-replaced- data-od-unknown-tag=\"\" data-od-xpath=\"\/HTML\/BODY\/DIV[@class='elementor elementor-246476 elementor-location-single post-252104 post type-post status-publish format-standard has-post-thumbnail hentry category-clippers tag-clippers tag-darius-garland tag-kawhi-leonard tag-ty-lue mv-content-wrapper']\/*[2][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[1][self::DIV]\/*[3][self::DIV]\/*[11][self::FIGURE]\/*[1][self::IMG]\" loading=\"lazy\" data-dominant-color=\"5a5652\" data-has-transparency=\"false\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\"  src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/dariusgarland-1-1024x683.jpg\" alt=\"LA Clippers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles against Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.\" class=\"wp-image-252107 not-transparent\" style=\"--dominant-color: #5a5652; width:681px;height:auto\" \/>Mar 27, 2026; Indianapolis, Indiana, USA; LA Clippers guard Darius Garland (10) dribbles against Indiana Pacers guard Andrew Nembhard (2) in the first half at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Mandatory Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n<p>Photo Credit: Trevor Ruszkowski-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Many people counted the Los Angeles Clippers out after the team\u2019s disappointing 6-21 start to the season. And&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":688297,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3789],"tags":[7,559,791,529,4034,192,4032,251,135,4033,4031,6,6970],"class_list":["post-688296","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-los-angeles-clippers","tag-basketball","tag-clippers","tag-darius-garland","tag-kawhi-leonard","tag-la","tag-la-clippers","tag-laclippers","tag-los-angeles","tag-los-angeles-clippers","tag-losangeles","tag-losangelesclippers","tag-nba","tag-ty-lue"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116319187565656670","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688296","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=688296"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/688296\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/688297"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=688296"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=688296"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=688296"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}