INGLEWOOD — The Clippers got off to a strong start against the Atlanta Hawks on Monday night by passing the ball, limiting turnovers and getting back on defense, which led to a 10-point lead after one quarter.

They stretched that margin to 17 points in the early minutes of the second quarter, then all the good things the Clippers had done to begin the game vanished, leaving missed opportunities and questions in the aftermath of a 105-102 loss .

“I thought they did a good job, especially defensively,” Coach Tyronn Lue said of the opening quarter. “I thought (this is) the blueprint of how we want to play, you know, with key guys being out is how we played in the first quarter. I thought we did a really great job of just trusting, moving the basketball, moving bodies. And then we didn’t d

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