Ty Lue Reveals Confidence in Job Safety Despite Embarrassing Nikola Jokic Admission

Ty Lue's seat isn't getting warmer despite the Clippers' embarrassing start.

Gary A. Vasquez-Imagn Images

The Los Angeles Clippers' nightmare start to the season continued on Wednesday as they were blown out by the Nuggets at home for their sixth straight loss. Nikola Jokic had one of the most dominant performances of his illustrious career as he didn't seem bothered at all by the Clippers' defense and walked into a 55-12-6 stat line on 18/23 from the field in 33 minutes of action. For a team with a center rotation of Ivica Zubac and Brook Lopez, and which was the third-best defense in the NBA just a season ago, that is an embarrassing performance.

What is arguably more embarrassing is Ty Lue's admission after the game that this was a part of the Clippers' game plan. Lue said that they tried to take away Jokic's passing and wanted to make him a scorer, and added he "didn't think he would score 55," per Clippers beat reporter Joey Linn.

Ty Lue's Seat Isn't Getting Warmer Despite Embarrassing Clippers Start

On paper, taking away one aspect of any superstar's game could be a viable strategy. Jokic wants to be a facilitator more than anything, and focusing on slowing down that aspect of his game is understandable. The issue here is the execution.

The way to make someone a scorer over a passer is not sending any help and guarding him one-on-one. But the Clippers couldn't guard Jokic one-on-one without fouling all night, sending him to the free-throw line a whopping 16 times. Zubac and Lopez couldn't make Jokic uncomfortable at all despite having the length and physicality to do so, at least on paper. Lue failed to make the necessary adjustments all night, letting Jokic score the easiest 55 points of his career.

Despite another deflating loss, however, Lue doesn't sound concerned about his job. He revealed after the game that he has the full support of Steve Ballmer and Lawrence Frank. The Clippers' top brass told Lue that they have full confidence in him to "get it done," per team reporter Joey Linn.

Ballmer and Frank's faith in Lue makes some sense. Not panicking and sticking with the plan this early in the season is certainly understandable. Lue is in his sixth season with the Clippers and has found a ton of success with the team amid injuries and chaos.

At the same time, Lue is sounding increasingly lost during this losing streak. He seems more interested in making excuses rather than finding solutions and is desperately pressing all the buttons on the controller. If he can't get things under control soon, Ballmer and Frank might be forced to make changes. A seven-game road trip starting with Friday's NBA Cup fixture against the Mavericks will give us a much better idea of where Lue and the Clippers are headed this season.