INGLEWOOD, Calif. (AP) — Tyronn Lue managed a small smile as he considered the kind of season it's been for the Los Angeles Clippers.
"A lot,” the coach said.
After a 6-21 start, the Clippers have scrapped their way into the play-in tournament. They finished 42-40, extending their NBA-best active streak of consecutive winning seasons to 15. They're the first team in league history to be 15 or more games under .500 and still end with a winning record.
“Usually a team deals with adversity maybe once or twice throughout a season,” Lue said, “but not five or six times.”
The Clippers host Steph Curry and the Golden State Warriors in a play-in game Wednesday night. The winner moves on to an elimination game Friday. The loser goes home for the summer.
“Pretty remarkable turnaround,” Warriors coach Steve Kerr said. “I know Ty well. One of his strengths is just staying the course and really keeping the guys on an even keel, and that’s not easy to do when you’re 6-21.”
The Clippers' woes weren't just on the court.
Kawhi Leonard and the team remain the subject of a league investigation that began last September into whether the Clippers circumvented the NBA's salary cap to pay Leonard as part of an endorsement deal with a now-bankrupt sponsor. There's no timetable for the outside law firm looking into the matter to wrap up.
The Clippers have said they welcome the investigation and have denied any wrongdoing.
“It doesn’t impact anything we do on a daily basis,” Lawrence Frank, president of basketball operations, said in February. “We know it’s out there, we know at some point there’ll be a decision made.”
The starting lineup took a blow in the early weeks of the season when Bradley Beal suffered a season-ending fracture that required surgery.
After warmly welcoming Chris Paul back to the franchise last fall, the team banished him in December.
He was sent home from a road trip in a sudden move. The 40-year-old future Hall of Fame point guard had aimed to retire with the Clippers after his 21st NBA season.
Then came the February trade deadline, and the Clippers shed their label as the league's oldest team by trading away 36-year-old James Harden and longtime fan favorite Ivica Zubac.
At times, it seemed the upheaval would overshadow their hosting of All-Star weekend at their 2-year-old arena.
Lue credited his players' resiliency for their ability to withstand a roller-coaster season.
“To not give up, not give in, it just shows a lot about the guys in the locker room that care to what they bring every single day,” he said.
Kerr compared the Clippers’ resurgence to the 1977-78 Seattle SuperSonics, who began with a dismal 5-17 mark that got their coach fired and under new coach Lenny Wilkens finished 47-35. They reached the NBA Finals that season before winning the franchise’s only championship the following year.
No one is predicting that kind of playoff run for the Clippers, but they've already survived an improbable set of circumstances.
“We always knew we were a better team that what we were showing,” veteran Brook Lopez said, “but to go out there and prove it, it’s a nice little honor.”
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Los Angeles Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue shouts to his players from the bench during the second half of an NBA basketball game against the Sacramento Kings in Sacramento, Calif., Sunday, April 5, 2026. (AP Photo/Randall Benton)
Los Angeles Clippers guard Darius Garland (10) drives against Golden State Warriors center Al Horford (20) during the first half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, April 12, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Ethan Swope)
Los Angeles Clippers forward Kawhi Leonard, right, shoots as Oklahoma City Thunder center Chet Holmgren defends during the second half of an NBA basketball game Wednesday, April 8, 2026, in Inglewood, Calif. (AP Photo/Mark J. Terrill)
In the past week, many Americans remained focused on the economy, inflation and how those forces could impact their lives. Trips to the grocery store or gas station are more painful than they were last year, and that is impacting the decisions of both households and businesses.
Here’s a snapshot of prominent economic data and news that occurred over the past week and what it potentially means for you.
America’s employers delivered a surprising 115,000 new jobs last month despite an economic shock from the Iran war.
Hiring was better than the 65,000 forecasters had expected, though it decelerated from the 185,000 jobs created in March. The unemployment rate remained at a low 4.3%, the Labor Department reported Friday.
Healthcare added 37,000 jobs last month and retailers 22,000. However, manufacturers cut 2,000 jobs in April and have shed 66,000 jobs over the past year despite President Donald Trump’s protectionist policies aimed at creating factory jobs.
The average long-term U.S. mortgage rate rose again this week, reflecting ongoing bond market volatility as surging oil prices due to the war with Iran heighten inflation worries.
The benchmark 30-year fixed rate mortgage rate rose to 6.37% from 6.3% last week, mortgage buyer Freddie Mac said Thursday. That’s still down from one year ago, when the rate averaged 6.76%.
This is the second straight weekly increase, bringing the average rate back to where it was four weeks ago.
Weekly U.S. jobless claim applications rose last week but remain at historically low levels despite elevated inflation and other economic headwinds.
The number of Americans filing for unemployment benefits in the week ending May 2 rose by 10,000 to 200,000, the Labor Department reported Thursday. That’s fewer than the 205,000 new applications analysts surveyed by the data firm FactSet were expecting.
The previous week’s new claims figure, which was the fewest since 1969, was revised up by 1,000 to 190,000.
Weekly filings for unemployment benefits are considered a proxy for U.S. layoffs and are close to a real-time indicator of the health of the job market.
U.S. job openings were essentially unchanged in March but hiring improved before the full impact of the Iran war hit the economy.
Employers posted 6.87 million jobs in March, compared to 6.92 million in February, the Labor Department reported Tuesday.
The job market has been up and down so far this year after a dismal 2025. And the Iran war, which began Feb. 28, has clouded the outlook for the economy and hiring.
The Job Openings and Labor Turnover Survey showed that layoffs rose in March. But hiring improved: Employers added 5.55 million gross jobs, the most since February 2024. More Americans also quit their jobs — a sign of confidence in their prospects.
U.S. stocks rose toward new highs to end the week on promising news in the labor market and also more strong earnings for major U.S. corporations.
The S&P 500 climbed 0.5% toward an all-time high after a report said U.S. employers added 115,000 more jobs than they cut last month, even though the war with Iran is raising fuel costs and uncertainty for everyone.
While hiring slowed from March’s level, it was nevertheless nearly double what economists expected. And it kept the S&P 500 on track for a sixth straight winning week, which would be its longest such streak since 2024. The U.S. stock market has blasted higher since late March, in part on hopes that the war will not mean a worst-case scenario for the global economy and that the Strait of Hormuz will reopen to allow oil tankers to deliver crude from the Persian Gulf again.
Trader Edward McCarthy, left, and Michael Milano work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, May 7, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)
FILE - The per-gallon price is displayed elecronically over the grades of gasoline available at a Buc-ee's convenience stop Thursday, May 7, 2026, in Johnstown, Colo. (AP Photo/David Zalubowski, file)
FILE - Hiring sign for sales professionals is displayed at a store, in Vernon Hills, Ill., Wednesday, April 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, file)
