After frustrating season, Clippers' Ty Lue expects to return

PHOENIX — An emotional Ty Lue opened his news conference after the LA Clippers' final loss of the season by thanking the fans, coaching staff, players, ownership, management and organization as a whole for the support they have given him the last three seasons.

After the Phoenix Suns eliminated the Clippers with a hard-fought 136-130 win Tuesday night to clinch the Western Conference first-round series, Lue repeatedly talked about his «whole three years here» in Los Angeles. This season was perhaps Lue's most trying, both on and off the court, with injuries to his stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George and deaths to seven family members.

Perhaps Lue was feeling emotional in the aftermath of the Clippers season coming to an end and his team scrapping to the final buzzer by cutting a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit to two twice in the final three minutes before finally losing to Phoenix. But after sounding incredibly reflective when speaking about his Clippers tenure, Lue was asked if he expects to return as the team's coach after such a frustrating season filled with lingering uncertainty over the health and availability of his two stars.

«Yes, sir,» Lue responded.

Lue did not have George in the lineup since March 21 because of a sprained right knee. Then, after two dominant games to start the series, Leonard was ruled out before Game 3 with a sprained right knee he suffered in Game 1 but played through in Game 2. Leonard did not play the rest of the series and the Clippers lost four straight games to the Suns.

Like the entire organization, Lue wondered what could have been had Leonard and George been healthy.

«I think the encouraging thing, with PG and Kawhi healthy, we haven't lost a series yet,» Lue said. «It's always in