Tyronn Lue Los Angeles Clippers got off to a solid start to their NBA season, putting together a 6-4 record through 10 games. Despite not having Kawhi Leonard, James Harden, Norman Powell, and Ivica Zubac have taken on larger roles within the Clippers offense.
During his time as head coach, Tyronn Lue has often emphasized wanting a sample size of about 10 to 15 games to see who plays well together and who doesn't before making any kind of lineup or rotational changes. Well, after the 11th game of the Clippers' regular season, Tyronn Lue made a change.
Clippers' Tyronn Lue makes lineup change to help James Harden
Terance Mann started the first 11 games for the Clippers mainly for defensive purposes and his catch-and-shoot abilities. While he's been solid defensively, he hasn't done much on the ball, and opposing teams are putting James Harden in hell with multiple defenders trapping to take the ball out of his hands and collapsing on his drives.
Unfortunately, Mann has also gotten off to his usual early season shooting struggles, shooting just 20 percent from three in the first 11 contests and playing just 22.7 minutes per game.
For Wednesday night's game against the Rockets, Tyronn Lue made a surprising lineup switch: guard Kris Dunn inserted into the starting lineup for Mann.
The results were positive, as the new-look starting unit of Dunn, James Harden, Norman Powell, Derrick Jones Jr., and Ivica Zubac finished the game a +15 in 16 minutes and 56 seconds. Unfortunately, that lineup was far and away the best one as the Clippers went on to lose the game, 111-103.
After the night, Tyronn Lue explained his decision to make the change after 11 games.
“We got off to a good start,” Lue said. “For me, it was about trying to get another ball handler on the floor with James when teams are trying to pressure him like [Dillon] Brooks, like [Luguentz] Dort, like what guys are trying to do. So I thought by getting KD on the floor, a true point guard, I thought would help. We got off to a good start, you can kind of see the difference just with James being off the ball and being able to catch it with a live dribble. It was a little better. That was my thought process going into it.”
In his first game off the bench against the Rockets, Mann put up 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists, two steals, and two blocks in 23 minutes.
Lue has always been a fan of Mann's and has continued to find opportunities for him in the lineup despite his shooting struggles. The Clippers' head coach says Terance Mann will continue to provide energy off the bench.
“I think just his energy, his energy is great, coming in off the bench, being able to attack a little bit more,” Lue added. “I think he was more aggressive, he had an aggressive mindset tonight, and so it was good to see my guy get going again. So I was happy for that, and now we've just got to continue to keep doing it.”
The Clippers will take on the Houston Rockets for a second time on Friday night in what will be an NBA Cup matchup.
Mo Bamba, who has missed the first 12 games of the season so far, has been assigned to the San Diego Clippers of the NBA G League. He's expected to play on Thursday night in Southern California and his status for Sunday's home game against the Jazz will be updated closer to gameday.
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