Clippers still 'learning on the fly,' fall to 0-3 with Harden - ESPN

DALLAS — LA Clippers coach Ty Lue described his team's performance for the first nine minutes Friday night as «a work of art.»

As for the rest of the 144-126 loss to the Dallas Mavericks? To put it politely, consider it proof that the Clippers are a work in progress a few games after James Harden joined them following the blockbuster trade that freed him from the Philadelphia 76ers.

«What's the worst that you can be?» Lue said when asked for his description for the remainder of the game after the Clippers built a 12-point lead late in the first quarter. «I'm telling you, it's going to be good. That's all right. We'll be all right. They better take advantage of it now.»

The Clippers dropped to 3-5 on the season, including 0-3 with Harden joining fellow likely future Hall of Famers Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Russell Westbrook in the lineup. LA has suffered losses to the New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets and Mavs in those games by a combined 39 points.

«I'm still confident,» said Leonard, who led the Clippers with 26 points. «I still feel like we're learning each other, the whole players and coaching staff, and you see a little bit of good things in the game tonight, even last game — having some good leads. We're just not sustaining it and once we figure it out, we're going to keep it rolling. So we all got to stay afloat and stay confident and keep pushing one another to keep that mindset on the goal.»

Dallas responded to the early dozen-point deficit with a 35-4 run over a span of almost seven minutes bridging the first and second quarters. The Mavs led by as many as 32 points, riding a dominant performance from Luka Doncic, who finished with 44 points on 17-of-21 shooting with six rebounds and six assists.

The Clippers'