WITH MORE THAN seven minutes remaining in Game 5 of the LA Clippers' first-round series, coach Ty Lue had seen enough.
Lue pulled starters Ivica Zubac and James Harden, who sank into his seat on the bench next to Paul George. Two seats over sat an injured Kawhi Leonard, watching a 123-93 loss to the Dallas Mavericks that put the Clippers in a 3-2 hole in the series.
In what would be the Clippers' final home game in Crypto.com Arena (before they move to Inglewood's Intuit Dome next season), the team was on the brink of another first-round elimination.