The words sounded ominous.
They also captured the Clippers’ frustration with issues they hope do not travel with them as they begin a five-game, 11-day trip beginning with Sunday’s game against the Boston Celtics at TD Garden.
The Clippers (31-19) had just lost to the Golden State Warriors on Thursday for the ninth consecutive time. The Clippers have dropped five of their past seven contests. And during that stretch, the Clippers have allowed opponents to score an average of 120.6 points per game.
Do the Clippers have what it takes to end those disturbing developments?
“I hope so,” Clippers center DeAndre Jordan said. “If not, your [butt] don’t need to be here. I’m being honest. If you don’t believe you can get better, this is probably not the place for you.”
That’s because even in an NBA season mostly centered on the Warriors’ “Super Team,” the Cavaliers’ quest to repeat, San Antonio’s endless consistency and Houston’s resurgence, the Clippers view themselves in that mix.
“The group of guys focus on one thing, winning the basketball game and winning the championship,” Jordan said. “That’s what we have to do. If we’re not all focused on that, it’s going to be an early season.”
Jordan sounded slightly irritated as he spoke those words. Moments later, Clippers guard J.J. Redick sat at the podium visibly upset as he lamented the team’s recent execution.
“We have five tough games on this trip,” Redick said, referring to Boston, Toronto, New York, Charlotte and Utah. “We have to figure out a way to win.”
And the Clippers will have to do so without star point guard Chris Paul, who has missed the past seven games to recover from the surgery he had on a torn ligament in his left thumb.
Although Paul returned this week to begin dribbling and shooting drills, the Clippers haven’t updated the original six-to-eight week timetable.
“We are playing and figuring out how to play without a guy who has the ball in his hands probably 80 percent of the time on offense,” Clippers forward Blake Griffin said. “So that changes a lot of things for us.”
That reality left Clippers forward Jamal Crawford “hard to judge” the state of the team, mindful that the team’s success the past two seasons centered on Paul playing (79-35) vs. sitting out (7-17).
“When you have a guy out like Chris, you don’t have a margin for error,” Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “Right now, we’re allowing teams to score too many points.”
Spreading his wings
The moment will soon become documented on yet another poster. Griffin threw down a right-handed dunk over Golden State forward Kevon Looney on Thursday while placing his left hand on the neck of the former UCLA standout.
The play also represented an aggressiveness in which Griffin posted a season-high 31 points and eight rebounds in what marked one of the few positive developments Rivers saw against the Warriors.
“I loved how he played,” Rivers said. “I loved how he attacked the basket.”
Griffin tried “finding the right balance between being aggressive and spreading the floor” in his fourth game after missing the previous 18 to recover from right knee surgery.
“Trying to make plays is a never-ending struggle,” Griffin said. “It is not a perfect formula for each game. You just figure out the situation and sometimes it is just not your night. Sometimes it is the other guys’ night. I think being aggressive doesn’t always mean going to score. It’s just using that aggression to get to the hole, draw defenders, kick out, be a playmaker, everything.”
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