Tyronn Lue says the Clippers’ 24 turnovers in another loss to the Lakers were ‘unforced,’ and Darius Garland is playing through back tightness

Tyronn Lue did not blame the Clippers’ transition defense after Wednesday’s 103-87 loss to the Lakers at Intuit Dome. He blamed the ball security. The Clippers turned it over 24 times, the Lakers scored 31 points off those turnovers, and Los Angeles fell to 1-3 with a third straight loss. “We had a lot of unforced turnovers that we can take care of and have control over,” Lue said.

It is the same problem the Clippers have had all week. They had 26 turnovers in Friday’s 125-117 loss to the Lakers and 26 more in Sunday’s 108-101 loss at Oklahoma City. Counting 18 in the opening win over Sacramento, they have 94 turnovers in four games, an average of 23.5, and opponents have scored 125 points off them.

Tyronn Lue on the turnover problem not getting resolved: “Some things we gotta clean up and they got to understand that just making a simple play, sometimes you’re gonna have bad breaks, but we had a lot of unforced turnovers that we can take care of and have control over…” pic.twitter.com/DMdTSGb46E

— Justin Russo (@FlyByKnite) October 29, 2026

‘Kind of deflating early on’

The Clippers had four turnovers in the first 4 minutes, 49 seconds, and Lue said the early mistakes set the tone. “I think it was kind of deflating early on,” he said. “So just some things we gotta clean up, and they gotta understand that just making a simple play. Sometimes you’re gonna have bad breaks.” He added that the team “didn’t do a good job” of handling the ball, “and they were able to get out in transition, get a lot of easy layups and dunks.”

The Lakers had 24 fast-break points to the Clippers’ 6, but Lue rejected the idea that his team simply did not get back. “I wouldn’t say fast break, I would say turnovers that led to easy three-on-ones,” he said. “As far as transition, I didn’t think we did a bad job with that. I think our transition hurt us when we turned the basketball over.”

He also said the issue was decision-making, not effort. “I can’t fault guys for trying or saying we’re being selfish,” Lue said. “I just think the way we need to play and how teams are gonna guard us, we just gotta make the quick decision. If you see anybody in front of you, then we gotta get off of it to make the simple plays. And everything else will take care of itself.” The Clippers got into the paint, he said, but “we didn’t do a good job with just kicking it out, making the right play. And I thought we got ourselves in trouble once we got too deep.”

How the second quarter got away

The Clippers led 31-29 after a Derrick Jones Jr. tip-in with 7:10 left in the second quarter. The Lakers then scored 16 straight points over the next three minutes. Austin Reaves started it with a step-back three, Collin Sexton and Matisse Thybulle each hit threes, and the Clippers had three turnovers during the run, two of them bad passes by Darius Garland. Los Angeles committed nine turnovers in the quarter, was outscored 31-16 and trailed 56-38 at halftime.

The Clippers opened the third quarter on a 13-2 run, with Garland scoring or assisting on all 13 points, and Isaiah Jackson’s alley-oop dunk cut it to 58-51. The Lakers answered, and Sexton scored 11 straight Lakers points late in the quarter, including back-to-back threes, to make it 81-61. The Lakers led by as many as 23.

The Clippers shot 26-of-74 (35%) and made 10 of 31 threes. They went 25-of-27 at the free-throw line. Rookie Keaton Wagler scored a career-high 21 points off the bench, making 10 of 12 free throws but 4 of 15 shots, and Jones had 15 points and 4 steals. Quentin Grimes led the Lakers with 23 points, Sexton scored a season-high 21 off the bench, and the Lakers had 15 steals.

Garland is ‘playing through a little something’

Garland finished with 14 points, 5 assists and 5 turnovers on 4-of-12 shooting in 26 minutes. Lue said his point guard has back tightness. “He’s playing through a little something, but he’s okay to play,” Lue said. “But he is playing through a little something, which is taking his pop away a little bit.” Asked what the injury was, he said: “Just a little bit of back tightness, but nothing serious.”

With Bradley Beal (knee) and Brandon Ingram (Achilles) out, Garland is carrying much of the offense, and Lue said defenses are loading up on him. “Teams are gonna guard him with their best defender, with bigger defenders,” he said. “And then when he gets into the paint, they just try to all pull in and try to make it tough on him to make plays.” Asked how he would avoid wearing Garland down this early in the season, Lue said, “We gotta be smart with it,” and noted he did not push the starters once the Clippers were down 20 in the fourth quarter. “I’ll do a better job of helping him out and helping him see those things,” he said. “And then we’ll just go from there.”

The Clippers were also without forward Rui Hachimura, who sat out against his former team with left quad tightness, along with Max Strus and Yanic Konan Niederhauser (both foot).

The Lakers’ side

The Lakers (4-1) won without Luka Dončić, who sat with back tightness on the second night of a back-to-back, and starting forward Ziaire Williams (sore left foot). JJ Redick called both moves precautionary. The team hopes to have Dončić back Friday, as noted in our Thursday injury report. It was the Lakers’ second win over the Clippers in less than a week, and it came one night after their first loss, 136-129 at Portland. Six Lakers scored in double figures.

"Every possession, he's got a certain chip on his shoulder, just plays with a certain tenacity. He gets the guys going with just his energy. He's everywhere screaming, balling his fist. That kind of stuff is contagious.”

– Walker on Collin pic.twitter.com/Fn77DxsKwB

— Los Angeles Lakers (@Lakers) October 29, 2026

Walker Kessler, who had 11 points and 9 rebounds, credited Sexton’s energy. “Every possession, he’s got a certain chip on his shoulder, just plays with a certain tenacity,” Kessler said. “He gets the guys going with just his energy. He’s everywhere screaming, balling his fist. That kind of stuff is contagious.”

What’s next

Both teams open NBA Cup group play on Friday, October 30. The Clippers visit the Minnesota Timberwolves at 8 p.m. ET (2 a.m. Saturday Cairo time), and the Lakers visit the Golden State Warriors at 10 p.m. ET (4 a.m. Saturday Cairo time).