Are The Clippers Imploding?

Sunday saw the Los Angeles Clippers drop their third straight game. Sunday’s loss comes after the embarrassing fourth quarter collapse against the Golden State Warriors on TNT Thursday.

Following the game, reporters heard a shouting match from the team’s locker room. The origins of the argument and who was involved wasn’t stated. Both players and head coach Doc Rivers pointed to frustrations, and keeping team business internal.

After setting a franchise record last season winning 45 games, the Clippers have stumbled out of the gate in the early ’15-’16 season. The team currently sits below .500 and has lost five of their last seven games.

Coming off the high of getting DeAndre Jordan back in the fold, doesn’t seem to have ignited a spark to send the team into championship-mode. After five seasons with a core of Chris Paul, Blake Griffin and DeAndre, you would expect that on-court chemistry would be the last area of trouble for the Clippers. Offensive issues have been apparent but the bigger problem has been defense, especially in late-game situations.

The bench is glaringly lacking on defense, outside of DeAndre and Blake, nobody is pulling down more than 4 rebounds a game in their last 10 games.

There’s still time for the Clippers turn this thing around, we haven’t even hit Thanksgiving yet. But, you have to wonder if a rocky start is too much to overcome in the loaded west, with a team who is starting to establish themselves as choke city.

photo via @Clippers