The Clippers are in the middle of the most arduous part of their season, playing six games in nine days — a stretch that threatens to push them to their limits.
Making matters worse, injuries are proving difficult to avoid.
With Kawhi Leonard and Ivica Zubac out, the Clippers saw their four-game winning streak end in a 112-99 loss to the Chicago Bulls at the Intuit Dome on Monday night.
The Clippers sorely missed Leonard (right knee injury management) and Zubac (left eye corneal abrasion) — they shot just 39.4% from the field (37 for 94) and 21.4% from three-point range (9 for 42).
Read more: Kawhi Leonard closer to being the game-changer he once was for Clippers
“It’s frustrating when you’re playing and you’re trying to get a rhythm and they add games one night and just switch the whole schedule around, which I don’t think has ever happened to me,” said James Harden, who had 17 points and 10 assists. “But this is our third (game) in four (nights) already. Then, we got a day off and we got another back-to-back a day from here.
“It’s frustrating. But for us, there’s no complaining. It is what it is. But tonight we just didn’t have the right bounce, the bounce that we needed to have and it showed.”
Chicago (19-25) opened an 18-point lead in the third quarter before the Clippers clawed back to within nine points in the fourth. Zach LaVine eventually put the game away when he hit back-to-back three pointers to give Chicago a 15-point lead with 1:24 left.
LaVine scored 11 of his game-high 35 points in the fourth quarter as the Bulls ended their five-game losing streak.
“I knew coming into the game that they were going to play hard,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “They were thirsty for a win. So, they came in, they attacked us. I thought defensively they did a good job by mixing the zone and man up to keep us off balanced. Offensively, we just played way too slow.”
Norman Powell led the Clippers with 27 points and Terance Mann had 12 points off the bench. Mo Bamba started at center in place of Zubac, finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Clippers (24-18) were playing on back-to-back nights after defeating the Lakers on Sunday. They will play another back-to-back set Wednesday and Thursday against Boston and Washington, respectively.
“They had a back-to-back and traveled,” said Powell about the Bulls, who played Sunday at Portland. “I mean, we really don’t have an excuse. And the games we’re talking about haven’t even come up yet. So, I don’t think we have an excuse.
“I think they came out with a lot of energy. They were flying around and we came out flat. We had our moments where we made our run in the second quarter. We tried to make a run to start the fourth, but Zach made some tough shots.”
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Zubac, who played in the Clippers’ first 41 games, will undergo additional exams on his eye, Lue said.
“…It did swell up on him last night and it was a tough blow,” Lue said. “Hopefully we can get him back sooner than later.”
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
