“Don't think a sense of urgency”: Clippers HC Ty Lue gives unapologetic assessment of Game 5 as Nuggets go up 3-2

LA Clippers coach Ty Lue watched his team suffer a 131-115 beatdown at the hands of the Denver Nuggets on Tuesday. The Game 5 loss pushed them to the brink of another first-round exit in the playoffs. Despite the decisive whipping, Lue was not overly concerned with how his team performed.

Lue had this to say when asked if he thought his team did not have a sense of urgency:

“I don’t think a sense of urgency. They kicked our bu**. … I thought we had the right intent. They just took it to us.”

The question about the Clippers’ sense of urgency had to be asked. Except in Game 1, LA has trailed in the opening minutes of the series. Game 5 followed that trend when James Harden and Co. fell behind 20-10 midway through the first quarter.

As they often do, the Clippers bounced back but failed to turn the game around. Jamal Murray’s 43-point explosion and another triple-double from Nikola Jokic gave the Nuggets their most comfortable win of the series.

Ty Lue was right when he said that the home team “took it to us.” Denver went 25-for-47 outside the paint, including a sizzling 17-for-33 behind the arc. The 51.5% shooting by the Nuggets from 3-point distance was easily their best in the series.

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Ty Lue shows no panic, confident LA Clippers will be “fine” in Game 6

Ty Lue and the LA Clippers head home for Game 6 in a must-win showdown with the Denver Nuggets. LA has not reached past the second round of the playoffs since 2021, when they appeared in the Western Conference finals.

Following the lopsided loss and the win-or-go-home nature of the next game, Lue told reporters:

“We gotta respond. We blew them out in Game 3. They came back and responded in Game 4. We gotta do the same thing. I don’t know what changes you could make. They made shots. … Coming back home, Intuit will be rocking. We’ll be fine.”

The Clippers decisively won Game 3 117-83 behind a defensive masterclass that they have not been able to replicate since. LA had a shot at pushing Denver to the ropes but lost Game 4 because of Aaron Gordon’s follow-up dunk.

Ty Lue’s team has no other choice. Lue could push the Clippers to come out swinging instead of trailing early to give their chances of winning a boost. A loss would mean Lue is going out of the first round for the third straight time in the postseason.