Doc Rivers on Clippers’ loss to Warriors: ‘What we lacked was heart’

The Clippers were outplayed in nearly every category against the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday, but that’s not what truly bothered Clippers Coach Doc Rivers.

They were outshot from the field, 58% to 46%. They were outshot from the three-point line, 60% to 37%. And they were outrebounded, 39-30.

But there’s one factor that irked Rivers more than anything else.

“We’ve played close to five games in seven nights, but what we lacked was heart,” Rivers said. “I don’t mind being tired, and you can use that as an excuse but, listen, I just know me. If I’m tired, and I’m getting my butt kicked, I’m going to leave the game with no fouls.”

The Clippers didn’t commit their first foul until there were four minutes and three seconds left in the second quarter. The team’s star players -- Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and DeAndre Jordan -- each committed only two fouls in a game in which they trailed by as many as 29 points.

According to Rivers, that spoke volumes.

It reeked of a lack of effort. It smelled like an air of indifference.

“Right now this is not the same group from last year, and it’s the same group from last year,” Rivers said of a Clippers team that returned all five starters from last season.

Entering Wednesday’s game, the players had acknowledged that even though they had won three of their four games to start the season, they hadn’t played good basketball. Then on Wednesday, against one of the top teams in the Western Conference, they appeared to play at half speed.

Blake Griffin didn’t even get a rebound until the third quarter -- and that was the only rebound he had all game.

“They were just better than us in every single way,” Griffin said. “We didn’t do anything we wanted to do, and they looked like they did everything they wanted to do. We have to do better.”

Twitter: @melissarohlin