Why Tyronn Lue was angry after the win against LeBron James, Lakers

Kawhi Leonard and the LA Clippers defended a late run from Luka Dončić and Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night to emerge victorious. It was the 14th win in the last 17 games for the Clippers, but the head coach Tyronn Lue walked into the postgame press conference room.

“Same fucking shit every game!” Lue could hear murmuring. “Same sh*t in every fucking game!”

Lue sat down, took a breath, looked down at the scoreboard and began answering questions about his team’s 112-104 win against its cross-town rival.

“We just have to do a better job of taking care of the basketball,” Tyronn Lue said after the win. “We knew they were going to blow the game away. They were down 26 points, they started to blitz and shoot, and we prepared for it, but we just didn’t handle it well. So we got turnovers, we were up, we were up 26, LeBron’s offensive rebound leads to a three. We turned the basketball over and they scored again. But then they kind of got our turnover and they just got a moment. way to win at halftime, we were up, but every game has been like this since I’ve been here for six years.

The Clippers erupted in the first half and took a 17-point halftime lead behind Kawhi Leonard’s 14 points, James Harden’s 10 points and eight assists and Ivica Zubac’s 10-point, nine-rebound halftime.

Tyrone Lue’s club then started the third quarter on a 13-4 run to take a 77-51 lead midway through the third quarter, leading most in the building to think this game might be over.

That’s when the Lakers started, “throwing the game away” defensively, as Lue mentioned. The Lakers outscored the Clippers 19-7 over the final 5:39 of the third quarter to trail by just 14. And they weren’t done.

LeBron James and the Lakers started the fourth quarter on a 19-7 run, outscoring them 38-14 over two halves and cutting the Clippers’ lead from 26 points to just two points at 93-91.

The Clippers managed to hold on thanks to the heroics of Jordan Miller (eight points), John Collins (seven points), Ivica Zubac (six points) and James Harden (five points). The four players combined for 26 points and were the only Clippers players to score in the fourth quarter, helping to hold off the Lakers’ second-half surge.

When asked what led to his frustration as he entered the press conference room, Lue was blunt.

“Because I wanted to blow them up.”

“We turned the ball over. We talked about it at halftime, being up 19 isn’t enough. You’ve got to come out and you’ve got to put them away. I thought by 26, they turned up the pressure defensively. Vanderbilt and Smart really played a part in that. LeBron James played passing lanes and you already know what that looks like.”

Tai Lu was frustrated when he entered the press room.

When @TomerAzarli asked why, he said, “Because I wanted to blow them up.”

— Award “money” to Mona (@Gmona48) January 23, 2026

Interestingly, the Clippers turned the ball over the same nine times in the first half as they did in the second half, a total of 18 turnovers to the Lakers’ 10.

The Clippers managed to hold Luka Doncic to just 11 of 27 shooting from the field, and the Lakers to just 33 percent shooting from three as a team.

Kawhi Leonard led the Clippers with 24 points with five rebounds and four assists. Ivica Zubac and James Harden finished with double-doubles — Zubac with 18 points and 19 rebounds, while Harden had 18 points and 10 assists.

The Clippers will now have two days off and host the Brooklyn Nets on Sunday night before returning for three games.