LOS ANGELES — The Clippers were missing a couple more pieces on Tuesday night, when third-year wing Terance Mann was sidelined with a sprained left ankle and Justise Winslow was out for the second consecutive game for personal reasons.
Mann was hobbled in the fourth quarter of Sunday’s loss to the Chicago Bulls, noticeably limping after trying to chase down Lonzo Ball in transition. Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said Mann’s status will be determined day by day.
Mann has become a significant part of what the Clippers do; the 25-year-old old out of Florida State is averaging 10.1 points, 5.1 rebounds and 2.8 assists in 29.7 minutes per game through the first 13 games of the season.
“We’re just gonna miss his energy, I think first and foremost, just the way he rebounds the basketball, he attacks, the passion he plays with every single night,” said Lue, who already is forging ahead without Kawhi Leonard (ACL), Marcus Morris Sr. (knee) and Serge Ibaka (G League assignment).
Last month, Mann – who erupted for 39 points to lead the Clippers in a second-round closeout game against the top-seeded Utah Jazz in the playoffs, punching L.A.’s ticket to the Western Conference finals for the first time – signed a two-year, $22 million contract extension. That deal goes through 2024-25 when he’ll be 27 years old.
More immediately: No Mann? It’s next-man-up, as they say.
“We’ve got to go to our bench,” Lue said. “And we got to get it from someone else tonight. … Amir (Coffey) is going to get a chance, Brandon (Boston Jr.) is gonna get a chance, Jay Scrubb, guys who’ve been working hard and preparing for this moment, they’re going to get opportunities tonight …
“They had a chance to play down (in the G League) and get some playing experience and some game experience so I’m excited to see what they do tonight and how they play and how they perform.”
In four appearances with the Agua Caliente Clippers of Ontario, Boston has averaged 13.8 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 assists; in two games this season, Scrubb averaged 16.7 points and in his sole G League game so far this season, Coffey shot 7 for 11 and scored 22 points.
While the Clippers get younger on the court for an evening, these 2020-21 Spurs are more inexperienced than most of Gregg Popovich’s squads have been – just 25.3 years old, the 11th-youngest roster in the league.
And that’s been sort of fun, the decorated coach said before his team faced the Clippers at Staples Center.
“It always comes down to the competitive part and the teaching part, especially with this group I have this year,” Popovich said. “Obviously very, very young team and we’re basically starting anew. So I want them to have a good start in developing their games, not just individually but try to remember what real mental toughness is, what wins games, how you lose games, what are the most important factors. What you owe to your teammates and how to be responsible to each other, in both competitiveness and execution, so I think the teaching part is probably – you feel necessary.
“I never said a word to Timmy (Duncan) and Manu (Ginobili) and Tony (Parker), I didn’t coach those guys, I just went to the games, I watched. … These guys need more. And that makes it more fun for our staff, in that sense.”
Lue hasn’t had an opportunity to lead many significantly young squads in his head coaching career – well, except one, and for just six games before he was fired on the heels of three consecutive NBA Finals appearances.
“I did it for six games in Cleveland,” Lue said, laughing. “You see where it got me.”
