The Clippers’ winning ways began with a change of mindset

The Clippers’ rebound from being one of the NBA’s most-maligned teams in November to one of its most dangerous two months later can be explained by any number of ways, supported both by reams of new-school statistics and the old-fashioned eye test.

What has mattered most to some of their players is neither.

“I think the most encouraging thing is our mentality,” said reserve wing Terance Mann, who has plenty of experience to draw against as the roster’s second-longest tenured player, before a recent practice. “We go into every game really feeling like we’re going to win. And I feel like that’s the best thing for us.

“We maybe had lost that for a little while, losing six in a row, but now, it’s every game, we feel like we’re going to win. You feel it in the locker room, you feel it on the plane going to wherever we’re going.”

Two days after that practice, the Clippers trailed by as many as 18 points in the fourth quarter before outscoring Brooklyn 22-0 in the last 5:33 of a victory that improved them to 27-14 — as effective an illustration as any of their newfound mindset, and where the Clippers find themselves at the season’s midway point.

In the team’s four previous seasons since Kawhi Leonard and Paul George joined the franchise to boost their championship ambitions, constant injuries to their stars and the resulting lack of continuity made the Clippers difficult to believe in as a true championship contender.

The difference is that halfway through this regular season, the Clippers say they believe in themselves. After a dominating road win at New Orleans earlier this month, coach Tyronn Lue said this roster was playing with more confidence than any since he took over before the 2020-21 season.

Harden has been “a huge part of it,” Mann said, “just him coming in here with all that…