Doc Rivers says Clippers were ’emotionally weak’ in Game 4 loss to Mavericks

The Clippers head coach did not mince words when assessing his team’s Game 4 loss.

After the Los Angeles Clippers blew a 21-point lead to an injury-depleted Dallas Mavericks team on Sunday, head coach Doc Rivers called his team’s Game 4 performance “very emotionally weak”.

Rivers was displeased with the lack of mental fortitude and substandard execution his team displayed as Luka Doncic ignited a spectacular comeback. The 21-year old, playing on a sprained ankle and without Kristaps Porzingis, capped his 42-point, 17-rebound, 13-assist masterpiece with a step-back 27-foot buzzer-beater in overtime to give Dallas the 135-133 victory.

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Rivers shouldered blame, too, and acknowledged he has to better prepare his team for Tuesday’s pivotal Game 5. However, he didn’t claim to have any immediate remedies for their mental timidity.

“If I knew [why], I would be Sigmund Freud,” Rivers lamented.

Rivers repeated his belief that the Clippers are “so much better” than how they’ve played through the first four games of the series. “But honestly, give Dallas credit,” he said. “They’re minus Porzingis. But they just kept playing. They played together. They moved the ball.”

Rivers pointed out the noticeable “difference in spirt” between the two sides in the latter part of the game. Dallas trailed 54-33 with 7:39 left in the second quarter, then outscored L.A. 51-21 to take go up nine late the third quarter. “They make a run, and everybody’s excited…they make a run on us, and we cave in. So that’s on all of us…I’ve got to get our guys right.”

Rivers emphasized the Clippers’ defensive issues against the short-handed Mavs

Rivers knows his team will need to be more locked in going forward—especially on the defensive end.

“We gotta play better. Listen, defensively, without Porzingis, they scored 135 points, and we’re supposed to be an elite defensive team. Right now we’re not. … They just stared us in the face and beating us off the dribble.”

He also explained the head-scratching move to have Kawhi Leonard switch off Doncic on the game’s final play, forcing Reggie Jackson to guard the all-world sophomore.

“You always switch everything at the end of the clock,” Rivers said. “But you’re supposed to switch to a denial. And we didn’t…We switched and allowed their best player to catch the ball with three seconds left.”

Paul George, whose abysmal series continued with a 3-for-14 shooting effort and unfocused defense, said he was “not sure” about Rivers describing the Clippers as “emotionally weak”.

“I think just the two guys that are doing the most positive talk were Lou and Kawhi,” Rivers said. “But everybody has got to follow that, too…I thought tonight was a night that a lot of messages were not delivered, including mine. So that is something that as a coach I always take on myself.”