Monday Clippers Check-In: 1-2, Short-Handed, Still Competitive — the TO Tax

Weekly Features

Oct 26

Three games in, the Clippers can shoot with anybody and still keep writing the same empty-possession receipt. West standings say 11th. The film says cut the TO tax or Wednesday at Intuit Dome looks like Friday all over again.

Three games into the 2026-27 season, the Los Angeles Clippers are 1-2, two games behind the pack of 3-0 West leaders, and still somehow the more efficient team by net rating than their record suggests. That is the Monday Check-In in one breath: short-handed, competitive, and bleeding possessions.

They blew out Sacramento 121-96 at Intuit Dome on Wednesday, then lost 125-117 at the Lakers on Friday and 108-101 at Oklahoma City on Sunday. The shooting nights were real. The turnover tax was louder. Seventy Clippers turnovers in three games. Ninety-four opponent points off those giveaways. Until that number comes down, the scoreboard will keep ignoring how well they shoot.

Where they sit — West and ratings (as of Oct. 26, 2026)

NBA.com Western Conference standings put the Clippers 11th at 1-2 (.333), 2.0 games behind the five teams still undefeated at 3-0: Houston, the Lakers, Oklahoma City, Memphis, and Minnesota. Portland sits sixth at 2-0. Denver and Phoenix are 1-1. San Antonio and Dallas share the 1-2 band with Los Angeles and Utah. New Orleans, Golden State, and Sacramento are 0-3.

Split: 1-0 at home, 0-2 on the road. Conference: 1-2. Division: 1-1 (Pacific). Streak: L2. Next: Lakers rematch, Wednesday, Oct. 28, Intuit Dome, ~7:30 PM PT.

NBA.com Teams Advanced (through three games) is the cleaner story than the win-loss column:

	Clippers (3 GP)
Offensive rating	109.7
Defensive rating	106.5
Net rating	+3.2
eFG%	58.3%
TS%	61.1%
TOV%	22.7%
AST/TO	1.19
Pace	103.0
PIE	50.6

Read that table twice. Effective field-goal percentage in the high 50s and a positive net rating while sitting 11th in the West is what a short-handed competitive team looks like when the handle is broken. The TOV% at 22.7 is the red light — among the worst marks in the league through the first week — and the AST/TO under 1.2 says the ball is moving until it is not.

Basketball-Reference’s team page was still showing through-two-game ratings (OffRtg 116.0, DefRtg 107.7, Net +8.3) before the OKC box fully cleared; use NBA.com’s three-game advanced line above for Monday’s check-in.

The three-game tape

Game 1 — Clippers 121, Kings 96 (Oct. 21, Intuit Dome). Wire-to-wire. Darius Garland’s 30 on 11-of-19 set the tone. The bench crushed Sacramento 53-34 (Brook Lopez 17 and 11, Keaton Wagler 15). Even in a 25-point win: 18 turnovers, 23 Kings points off them. Survivable against a depleted Kings group. A warning for everyone else.

Game 2 — Lakers 125, Clippers 117 (Oct. 23, Crypto.com Arena). Another winning-level shooting night on the road: 41-of-83 (49.4%), 16-of-37 from three (43.2%). Lopez was a flamethrower off the bench — 22 on 8-of-9 in under 20 minutes. And then the bill: 26 turnovers, 33 Lakers points off them. Third quarter 39-26 Lakers. Paint 58-48 Lakers. Garland: 26 points, six assists, nine turnovers.

Game 3 — Thunder 108, Clippers 101 (Oct. 25, Paycom Center). The purest version of the theme. Clippers shot 37-of-81 (45.7%) and 15-of-38 from three (39.5%) against Oklahoma City’s 8-of-24. They led at half (46-43), were down one after three (77-76), and still lost by seven. Why: 26 turnovers → 38 Thunder points. Paint 64-36 OKC (32-of-60 inside vs 18-of-33). Boards 46-38 Thunder. Shot volume 94-81. Kris Dunn was the two-way anchor (15 points, 6 assists, 5 steals, 2 blocks, +5). Wagler went 11 / 5 / 4 in about 26 minutes (6-of-6 at the line). Garland: 16 / 11 / 6 turnovers, −20.

Same disease, three hosts. Sacramento forgave it. The Lakers and Thunder cashed it.

The TO tax, by the numbers

Game	Clippers TOs	Opp. pts off TO
vs SAC (W)	18	23
at LAL (L)	26	33
at OKC (L)	26	38
Total	70	94
Per game	23.3	31.3

That is not a one-night mess. That is a possession profile. NBA.com’s 22.7% turnover rate through three games is the efficiency translation of the same fact: when the Clippers get a shot up, they are a good offense (58.3 eFG%, 61.1 TS%). When they do not get a shot up, the other team is already in the paint.

Sunday’s paint gap — 28 points — was the second act of Friday’s 10-point paint deficit. Live-ball turnovers against rim protectors (Walker Kessler, then Chet Holmgren / length everywhere) become the exact half-court drives and second chances the advanced sheet is already punishing.

Still competitive — what is working

Shooting travels. Two 15-plus three nights in three games (16 vs LAL, 15 vs OKC) plus a clean opener. The roster has enough juice to hang 117 on the road and outshoot a 3-0 Thunder team from deep by 21 points.

Kris Dunn as the glue. Five steals at OKC after a strong opener. Point-of-attack defense that travels. Primary POA on SGA kept Sunday a coin flip into the final four minutes.

Bench creation. Lopez remains the vertical spacer and efficient scorer the second unit needs (22 in 20 at LAL; 15 with three threes at OKC). Wagler’s line at Paycom — 11/5/4 in ~26 — and the Gradey Dick / Kobe Sanders positive minutes show secondary creation that is not imaginary.

Net rating vs. record. A +3.2 net with a 1-2 record is the statistical version of “still competitive.” The Clippers are not getting blown out. They are paying a TO tax that turns competitive games into L2.

Still short-handed — the inactive stretch

Official OKC inactive list (and the same core out through the first week):

Bradley Beal — right knee (injury management)
Brandon Ingram — right foot / heel surgery
Max Strus — right foot / plantar fascia tear
Jordan Miller — left shoulder / rotator cuff surgery
Yanic Konan Niederhäuser — right foot / Lisfranc surgery

Tyronn Lue’s margin was slim before the opener. It has not widened. That is context, not an excuse: short-handed teams that shoot this well can still win if they stop donating 23-plus possessions a night. Short-handed teams that keep donating them will keep sitting 11th while the Lakers sit 2nd at 3-0.

Wednesday’s rematch checklist (vs Lakers, Intuit Dome, ~7:30 PM PT)

The Lakers are 3-0, 2nd in the West, OffRtg 125.9 / DefRtg 112.4 / Net +13.5 per NBA.com advanced. Friday’s script is the scouting report: Clippers can make 16 threes and still lose if the third quarter and the handle collapse together.

Turnover ceiling: under 15. The morning takeaway bar stands. Under 15 or the Lakers walk out again.
Garland handle tax: four TOs or fewer. Nine at Crypto, six at Paycom. Shorter on-ball stretches; more Dunn / Sanders initiation.
Lopez minutes: 28-plus. Production has earned more than a 20-minute spark against a Kessler-sized problem.
Dunn as primary POA. Help rules that do not leave the back line exposed.
Win or stay even in the paint. Friday was −10. Sunday was −28. Home floor has to flip that column.

Clear those and the Clippers can even the season series on their floor. Miss them and Monday’s Check-In writes itself again next week.

Bottom line

Record: 1-2. West: 11th, 2 GB. Ratings: 109.7 / 106.5 / +3.2. Theme: 1-2, short-handed, still competitive — the TO tax.

The Clippers are not a bad shooting team learning to compete. They are a competitive shooting team learning — or refusing — to value the ball. Seventy turnovers. Ninety-four points the other way. Wednesday at Intuit Dome is the first chance to prove the tax was a week-one problem, not the identity.

Sources:

christopher martinez