Doc Rivers unfazed by Clippers' recent struggles: 'I don't panic'

Doc Rivers is focusing on the big picture as his team is mired in its worst stretch of the season. 

The Los Angeles Clippers dropped their season-high third consecutive game Friday to the Toronto Raptors after blowing an early 20-point lead to lose 123-107. It's the first time since Rivers took over the Clippers' head-coaching position that the team has experienced a losing streak longer than two games. 

Prior to Friday's loss, the last time Los Angeles had lost three in a row was March/April 2013, months before Rivers joined the Clippers through a trade with the Boston Celtics. 

"I don't panic," Rivers said after Friday's loss, according to Dan Woike of the Orange County Register. "I don't go game to game. If we had won five in a row, I wouldn't think any different, either. You've got to keep plugging away. This is a long season. You just have to keep going with it."

The recent woes have come during a grueling stretch for the Clippers, who are in the midst of an eight-game road trip that continues in Oklahoma City on Sunday versus the Thunder before wrapping up against the Dallas Mavericks the following night. 

Los Angeles has also had to play the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors, the surging San Antonio Spurs and Cleveland Cavaliers, as well as the Anthony Davis-powered New Orleans Pelicans, who've played really well at home and are fighting for the final playoff spot in the loaded Western Conference. The Clippers have won one of those games. 

"You lose three in row. To me, that's a long losing streak to us," Rivers said. "It doesn't feel different. I just don't like losing three games in a row. We're a good enough team where we shouldn't. But we have."

The following month isn't much kinder to the Clippers, either, as they're set to go through an extremely difficult stretch loaded with contests against playoff teams.

How Los Angeles, which has the league's most efficient offense, plays over the next month could have big ramifications in the playoff race. The Clippers are bunched up with a number of teams and sit in sixth in the West.