Inglewood, CA (News4UsOnline) – The Clippers came to the fight on Tuesday, winning back-to-back games for the first time since October and only the second time this season.
Their 128-108 win over the Rockets signifies a potential energy shift for a team that was in desperate need of some positive results. Kawhi Leonard finished the night with 41 points, while James Harden added 29 of his own.
“We have talked about mental toughness and being able to get over the hump, and we still have to continue to put the work in. We can’t get comfortable here, but it is a step in the right direction,” said head coach Tyronn Lue after the win.
This season has not gone according to plan for the Clippers, who head into Christmas asking for better results in 2026. They are 8-21, third-to-last in the Western Conference, a shocking fall from grace for a team that has made the playoffs each of the past three seasons and 12 of the past 14 years.
LA’s major offseason move was shipping Norman Powell away for John Collins in an effort to bolster their size while also lowering the average age on the roster. After acquiring Bradley Beal and Chris Paul for pennies on the dollar to fill Powell’s minutes, the shift appeared to be a gift-wrapped improvement, but it has ultimately turned into a nightmare before Christmas.
Beal and Paul are both done for the season. Beal suffered a hip fracture, and Paul was sent home from the team after ruffling the coaching staff’s feathers. Powell is having a career year in Miami, averaging 24 points per game, while Collins is averaging 12.5, his lowest output since he was a rookie in 2018.
“Mentally, when it gets hard, you gotta get tougher. We will be playing good basketball, and then a couple of things go wrong, and it’s like, here we go again. Do not get discouraged when you miss a couple of shots or turn the basketball over. Just keep running through the tape, and these last five to seven games, we have not been able to do that,” said Tyronn Lue after a recent loss to Memphis.
Getting to the finish line has been a struggle. LA has mostly been in games early on, only to squander leads or get blown out in the second half. Defending in transition and around the three-point line has been a concern, allowing teams to go on massive runs, while the Clippers struggle to find consistency on offense.
Against Houston and in their previous win over the Lakers, they checked all the boxes they had been seeking answers for.
“Most of the time, we are trying. I think teams are faster than us, bigger than us, and we gotta become even more scrappy. When things go wrong, we have to have that mental stability to not let go of the rope. We can do everything right and still lose, or the team still scores, but you have to stay with it,” said Lue.
Even more impressive is that LA was able to cap off the wins without their defensive anchor and double-double machine, Ivica Zubac, who just suffered a sprained ankle early on in the Lakers’ contest.
“It is a big blow to us with Zu getting hurt, so we have to play a different style of basketball than we normally would. We have to adjust to that, and yesterday was a good day of practice for us, so hopefully we can have a good carryover,” Lue said before tipoff against the Rockets.
Leonard and Harden have been really great this season, scoring 51 points a night combined, but they are older players. Asking them to continue to score 25-plus each and lead a miraculous second-half team turnaround is a tall task. At this stage in their careers, it will be hard for both to maintain their current pace, which has still not been enough up to this point.
“It is about those two guys being on the same page,” said Lue. “If we are going to get out of this situation we are in, it is going to take all of us, and it starts with those two. They are our best players, and they responded,” said Lue.
While the talent is evident based on the last two games and years past, it might be too poor a start to overcome. They are currently only 3.5 games back from the 10th-seed, and a potential play-in game, but the West is tough as always. Jumping teams like the Mavericks, Trail Blazers, and Grizzlies will be difficult.
The saying often goes that the NBA season does not really start until Christmas, and the Clippers are hoping it is not already over before it even started.
Lue sees this as a reset for his team, wiping the slate clean to 0-0 before the Lakers game. He set the goal at 35-20 the rest of the way, and now they are 2-0.
Cover Photo: Inglewood, CA – Inglewood, CA – Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard scored 41 points in a 128-108 victory against the Houston Rockets at Intuit Dome on Dec. 23, 2025. Photo credit: Melinda Meijer / News4UsOnline
Benjamin Verbrugge is a reporter for News4usonline who studied journalism at CSU Dominguez Hills. “Sports have brought me much joy throughout my life, and I want to give a little back to something that has meant so much to me.” Email Benjamin at benverbrugge8@gmail.com.
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