Two games into the 2026-27 season, the Clippers are exactly what a short-handed, new-look roster looks like when the shot-making works and the ball does not. They blew out Sacramento 121-96 at Intuit Dome on Wednesday, then shot 49% with 16 threes at Crypto.com Arena on Friday and still lost 125-117 to the Lakers. The through-line is not a mystery: 44 turnovers in two nights, a third-quarter collapse against L.A., and a paint problem that gets worse against rim protectors. Sunday at Oklahoma City (4 PM PT, Paycom Center) is the stress test. The Thunder are 2-0, live in the passing lanes, and just forced 22 Denver turnovers.
Here is the good, the bad, and what has to change before tip.
Preseason echoes
The Clippers finished the 2026 preseason 2-1: 104-101 over Golden State in Honolulu, 106-114 at Toronto in Vancouver, and 122-110 over Denver at Intuit Dome. The sample was thin, but the themes that carried into the regular season were already visible.
This is not last year's team. Kawhi Leonard is in Toronto. James Harden is in Cleveland. The offense belongs to Darius Garland, who came over in the February Harden swap and averaged 13.3 points and 5.7 assists across those three exhibitions. Rui Hachimura averaged 17 points in the preseason after leaving the Lakers. Rookie Keaton Wagler (No. 5 pick, Illinois) shared the backcourt with Garland and looked comfortable. Brook Lopez immediately looked like the vertical spacer and rim deterrent the second unit needed.
The injury list was long before the opener and has not shortened: Brandon Ingram (heel surgery), Bradley Beal (right knee), Max Strus (plantar fascia tear five minutes into the preseason opener), Jordan Miller (left shoulder), and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser (right foot). Tyronn Lue's message was blunt — the margin for error is slim. What did not fully show up in exhibitions, then exploded in the first two real games, is the handle tax. Preseason can hide live-ball chaos. The Lakers and the Thunder do not.
Game 1: Clippers 121, Kings 96 (Oct. 21)
The good. Wire-to-wire. The Clippers never trailed, led by as many as 28, and held the lead for 98% of the game. Garland dropped 30 on 11-of-19 with four assists and only three turnovers in 32 minutes — 16 points in the first quarter, then floaters and short pull-ups when the threes stopped falling. Kris Dunn finished with seven assists, three steals, and two blocks. Isaiah Jackson started at center and went 6-of-8 for 13. The bench crushed Sacramento 53-34: Lopez 17 and 11 in 27 minutes, Wagler 15 with five assists, Gradey Dick 12. Team shooting was clean (52.4% FG, 40% from three), and the Clippers won the paint 56-48 and the fast-break column 27-18.
The bad. Even in a 25-point win, the Clippers turned it over 18 times (official total, including the team turnover). Sacramento scored 23 points off those giveaways. Against a depleted Kings group, that was survivable. Against a real defensive team, it is a warning. Hachimura's 3-of-13 night also flagged the half-court creation problem when Garland sits or gets trapped.
Game 2: Lakers 125, Clippers 117 (Oct. 23)
The good. Another winning-level shooting night on the road: 41-of-83 (49.4%), 16-of-37 from three (43.2%), 19-of-25 at the line. The Clippers led early (31-27 after one), pushed the lead as high as 11, and knotted it at 64-64 at half. Lopez was the best Clipper on the floor — 22 points on 8-of-9 (2-of-2 from three) with four rebounds and three blocks in just 19:50 off the bench. Jones Jr. and Hachimura each scored 16. Los Angeles won the fourth 27-22, cut it to six in the final minute, and actually won second-chance points (15-8) and fast-break points (22-13). They were not outworked. They were out-secured.
The bad — and it decided the night. Twenty-six Clippers turnovers. Thirty-three Lakers points off those giveaways. Official scorer's report, not a rounded estimate. Garland finished with 26 points and six assists… and nine turnovers in 36:34 (minus-16). Four of those empty possessions came in the third. Wagler had four turnovers of his own in 23:37. The Lakers' third quarter was an avalanche: 39-26, 16-of-22 shooting (72.7%), Austin Reaves with 13 in the period, Walker Kessler protecting the rim and finishing alley-oops, Matisse Thybulle (Lakers, not Clippers) knocking down transition threes. Paint went 58-48 Lakers (29-of-37 inside for LAL, 24-of-41 for LAC). Kessler ended with 22 points, eight rebounds, three steals, and six blocks. When you put the ball on the floor in traffic against a rim protector that active, the math closes whatever gap your threes opened.
The through-line after two games
Record: 1-1 (1-0 home, 0-1 road). Next: at OKC, then the Lakers rematch at Intuit Dome on Wednesday.
Offense is real. Per Basketball-Reference through two games: 119.0 ppg, 116.0 offensive rating, 50.9% from the field, 41.7% from three. Garland is at 28.0 ppg on 52.6% shooting; Lopez at 19.5 in 23.5 bench minutes on 71.4%; Wagler at 14.0 points and 4.0 assists; Dunn at 6.0 assists and 2.5 steals. Half-court stretches with Lopez spacing and Garland attacking the floater look functional.
The handle is broken. Forty-four turnovers in two games — 18 against Sacramento, 26 against the Lakers. That is 22.0 per game. Garland alone has 12 turnovers through two nights. Against OKC's pressure package, that rate is a gift certificate. The Thunder forced 22 Denver turnovers on Thursday in a 96-84 win and are averaging roughly 10 steals and 9.5 blocks through two games, with Chet Holmgren at 4.0 blocks and 12.0 rebounds per game.
Third-quarter defense and paint POA. The Kings game hid it (Clippers won the third 32-16). The Lakers game exposed it. Elite guards plus a vertical rim protector turn Clippers drives into the other team's transition. Jackson has started both games at center; Lopez has been the more efficient big by a wide margin. Point-of-attack defense on SGA cannot be a committee hope — it has to be a Dunn assignment with help rules that do not leave the back line exposed.
Working vs. structural. Lopez's bench impact is the clearest positive; Dunn's playmaking and steals travel; Wagler, Dick, and Sanders all showed secondary creation (Sanders had five assists vs. LAL). The structural problems are the opposite of that list: too much on-ball load on Garland, too few Lopez minutes relative to production, and too many live-ball turnovers that become paint and transition points the other way.
Before OKC: the checklist
Oklahoma City is 2-0 (116-104 at San Antonio, 96-84 vs. Denver). Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is averaging 24.5 points; Holmgren is the rim wall; Cason Wallace and Ajay Mitchell feast on careless handles. You do not "compete harder" against that — you change the possession profile.
1. Lopez minutes: target 28–32. He has been the Clippers' most efficient player through two games. Against Chet, you need his contest and his spacing for more than a 20-minute spark. Leave the door open to a start if Jackson's early fouls or paint losses repeat.
2. Cut Garland's handle tax. Shorter on-ball stretches. More catch-and-shoot and downhill attacks after Dunn or Sanders initiate. Ceiling for Sunday: four turnovers or fewer. Nine against the Lakers is not a one-off risk against Wallace and Alex Caruso — it is a projection.
3. Dunn as primary POA on SGA. Help from Jones Jr. on drives is fine; gambling rotations that leave Holmgren alone at the rim are not.
4. Bench roles, verified. Wagler: cutter and spacer first, primary initiator second — his four turnovers vs. the Lakers were the cost of over-creation. Sanders and Dick: early second-unit minutes for pace and a second creator so the offense does not die when Garland sits. Keep feeding Lopez as the bench's gravitational center.
5. Turnover ceiling: under 14. The Clippers are at 22 per game. Gift 30-plus points off turnovers again and Chet and Wallace bury the night before the fourth quarter starts.
6. Success bar for Sunday. Keep the third quarter within five. Win or stay even in the paint. Lopez at 24-plus minutes. Garland at four turnovers or fewer with Dunn running primary-handle stretches. Check those boxes and the Clippers can leave Paycom with a competitive road loss or a steal. Miss them and the film session writes itself.
The shooting is not the problem — this roster has enough juice to score 117 on the road. The problem is empty possessions, mid-game collapses, and a center rotation that underuses its best big. Fix the ball first. Then the roster travels.
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