Mann happy to contribute, put shooting slump behind

Correspondent

The slump started innocuously enough. Terance Mann had experienced other off shooting nights, so going 1 for 5 from the field and missing all four 3-point attempts in a middecember game against Golden State didn’t sound alarms.

Besides, Mann seemed to regain his shooting touch, going 4 for 8 and finishing with 12 points in the following game. But then something went awry in Mann’s next five games. The 27-year-old guard didn’t reach double figures, shooting 8 for 35, including a glaring 0 for 10 from the field in the Clippers’ loss to the Boston Celtics.

“In the momentum it’s not easy to put aside,” Mann said after the Celtics game. “But I mean, the next day I’m good. It happens. You know, people have those types of games.”

Mann tried not to get into his own head about his lack of shooting success during that 12day stretch in December, but he couldn’t ignore the chatter in his ears from coaches, teammates and friends, who offered tips and encouragement.

“When you’re missing, everybody wants to talk to you and give you a whole dissertation on your shot, but I’ve been shooting my whole life, so I knew it was going to come back,” Mann said Saturday. It did.

Starting with the Clippers’ victory against the Memphis Grizzlies on Dec. 29, Mann has scored in double figures in five of the past 10 games and boosted his shooting percentage from December’s 32.2% to 58.5% this month. He went 5 for 5 and made all three 3-point attempts in a victory against the Toronto Raptors on Jan. 10.

He’s looking to carry that momentum

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Today: into the next two home games against the Brooklyn Nets today and Lakers on Tuesday and beyond. The Clippers (26-14), who have won nine of their past 11 games and 23 of 30, then leave on their annual Grammy trip — seven games in 12 days.

Mann said he knew the only way to end a shooting slump is to ignore the noise and continue to put the ball in the air.

“I just continued to shoot, no specific conversations with anybody,” he said.

At one point during Mann’s struggle, coach Tyronn Lue tried to cover the guard’s shooting woes by saying that the team had “too many great offensive players” to worry about his offensive performance.

“That’s not his role. It’s not his job,” Lue said during the slump. “… He brings more to the table and just for him, just defensively, being great defensively, bringing that energy, cutting to the basket, getting open, getting layups and things like that.”

Mann missed the first seven games of the season because of a sprained ankle and slowly worked himself back into shape. While his defense was sharp, his 3-point shooting had gone flat. He started his season by making just 4 of 26 attempts in 11 games for an underwhelming 15.4%. Mann is a 37.2% career shooter from long range.

But that seems to be behind him now. Not only has his shooting touch returned, but Mann is also getting in some solid rebounding and making the most of second-chance opportunities.