The Clippers played four games in seven days. In ten matches this season, they have played three sets of back-to-backs.

Before Saturday’s game against the Toronto Raptors, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue told his players they can’t afford to take their circumstances into account.

Despite blowing a 14-point lead, the Clippers put Lue’s words into action and overcame James Harden and Norman Powell who missed key free throws in a 105-103 win at the Intuit Dome that extended their winning streak to four games.

Harden had 24 points but missed a free throw with 28.7 seconds left, forcing the Clippers to hold on to a two-point lead.

Powell had 24 points but missed a free throw with 35.5 seconds left. He then missed another with 8.1 seconds left, keeping it a one-possession game.

But the Clippers held on after Toronto’s Jakob Poeltl missed by more than a foot and a half after intentionally missing a free throw with 6.2 seconds left. Ivica Zubac grabbed the rebound and passed the ball to Harden, who threw the ball across the entire court as time expired.

Before the game, Lue encouraged his players to continue playing great defense and taking better care of the basketball.

“Just be mentally tough,” Lue said. “I can’t give in to fatigue. You can’t give in to the schedule. Just take it one game at a time.”

Clippers guard Kris Dunn celebrates after dunking against the Raptors in the first half on Saturday.

(Marcio Jose Sanchez / Associated Press)

Although the Clippers are one of the best defensive teams in the NBA, Lue said they would be better if they didn’t allow transition points from turnovers.

As of Saturday, the Clippers averaged 106.7 points per game, the second-best mark in the NBA. The Clippers rank fourth in defensive rating (107.9).

But the Clippers are also giving up 16.3 turnovers per game, which puts them tied for second-worst in the league that starts Saturday along with Toronto.

“If we just take care of the basketball, I think we can win games a lot of nights because we get shots on goals,” Lue said. “But when you have 19, 20 turnovers every night, it’s hard to win those games because your defense has to be elite, which has been the case so far. But we can’t keep tipping our hat to our defense every night and turning the ball over, allowing teams to come out and easily pick up points in transition. … If we get to that range of 10, 12, I mean we’re a different team.

The Clippers turned the ball over 12 times against the Raptors.

And they built a double-digit lead for the tenth straight game – and once again the Clippers let that lead slip away.

Etc: Lue was asked if Kawhi Leonard, who has not played this season due to inflammation in his right knee, would travel with the Clippers on their three-game trip that begins Monday against Oklahoma City. He was short with his answer.

“Um, no,” Lue said.