Clippers try to put losses behind them with Mavericks on deck

They processed the defeat and the Clippers immediately shifted to the next challenge.

Clearly, it was a bitter feeling for them to get trounced yet again by the Golden State Warriors on Monday night at Staples Center.

But as the Clippers pick up the pieces, they will put all their focus on facing the Dallas Mavericks on Wednesday night at home in an attempt to break a two-game losing streak.

“It’s one game. We’ve got 82 games,� forward Blake Griffin said. “I know we lost our last game [to Detroit], but the thing about the NBA is you have a chance to wash this away in 48 hours.

“It’s a long season, man. This isn’t the end of the world. You just got to get back at it.�

The only solace the Clippers desired to take from the 28-point defeat to the Warriors was that the season is still fresh and October has turned to November.

There is so much more basketball left to be played, the Clippers said.

“You can’t read much into this,� center DeAndre Jordan said. “You can’t focus on this one loss. We lost the other day, we lost tonight. We didn’t want to lose two in a row, but we did. Now we’ve got to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way to get a win on Wednesday.�

The Clippers have 76 regular-season games remaining, and the next three are at home.

“It’s a long season,� Jordan said. “We’ve got a long ways to go. Our ceiling is really high. So, that’s a positive.�

The Clippers will need to get their defensive mojo back after the Warriors shredded it, scoring 141 points.

The Clippers will need to keep trusting their offense after it frequently stalled against the Warriors.

“We’ve got a lot of time to get better, and we will,� Clippers coach Doc Rivers said. “I really like this team. We’ve got a lot of work to do, offensively more than defensively. Defensively, we were not great tonight. But overall, I like how we could play. We’ve just got to do it consistently.�

Option declined

The Clippers declined to pick up the third-year option on forward Brice Johnson’s contract, according to an NBA official who was not authorized to speak publicly on the matter.

Johnson, who will earn $1.3 million this season, would have made $1.5 million next season with the Clippers had they picked up his deal. Johnson will become a free agent next summer.

UP NEXT

VS. DALLAS

When: 7:30 p.m. Wednesday.

On the air: TV: Prime Ticket, ESPN; Radio: 570, 1330.

Update: It has been a tough season so far for the one-win Mavericks. They are ranked 26^th in scoring, averaging 98.3 points per game, and next to last in field-goal percentage, making just 42.2% of their shots. At 1-7, the Mavericks’ 12.5% winning percentage is the worst in the NBA.

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