The Clippers are preparing for Monday’s game under difficult circumstances

At 5 a.m. Wednesday, Clippers forward Nicolas Batum was told his family would have to evacuate their Tarzana home because the Palisades fire had moved that direction. Batum was with the Clippers in Denver for a game that night, but had been constantly checking his phone and talking to his wife and two children.

Playing the Nuggets was the last thing on his mind at the time. He thought only of the safety of his family and those affected by the devastating fires in Los Angeles County.

“I wanted to come home,” Batum said after practice Sunday. “But I was told my family would be fine. For now, we’re lucky to be safe. … I hope it will be.”

His teammate, Kawhi Leonard, on the other hand, returned to his Pacific Palisades home on Tuesday to be with his family.

With so many people losing their homes in the Pacific Palisades area, Clippers coach Tyronn Lue was asked if there was any update on Leonard’s home.

“You’ve got to talk to him about it,” Lue said.

Lue said Leonard “has been good. Tough situation for him, the things he had to go through with his family and his house situation. We’re here to support him, not just Kawhi, but everybody else in the community that we need to help. We will help and support.”

Leonard was at practice Sunday, but he was not one of the players the Clippers made available during media access.

Lue said other members of the Clippers’ support staff and organization were affected by the fires.

“I know Kawhi had left the team for that (Denver) game to check on his situation,” teammate Terance Mann said. “But we didn’t really hear from him. So it’s good to see that he and his family are doing well.”

After the NBA postponed the Clippers game against Charlotte on Saturday night due to the wildfires, LA still has to face the Miami Heat on Monday night at the Intuit Dome.

Lue said it was “above my grade” on whether the Clippers should play the game against the Heat.

“I think the NBA has a good handle on things, what’s going on and what we need to do,” Lue said. “So when they make a decision, we’re all on board. They know we’re going through a tough time right now, the state of California. They understand that, and so hopefully we can bring some kind of joy when the game comes back tomorrow , some togetherness, trying to make people smile in hard times.”

The Clippers, who had lost four of their last five games, have not played since Wednesday at Denver.

“At the end of the day, we’re professionals,” Batum said. “We have a game to play. We have to win, so we have to get back at it. We had two good practices the last two days. On the basketball side, we lost four of the last five, so we need a win tomorrow. We have a stretch at home that we have to take care of so it’s going to be a big one against Miami tomorrow so we have to focus on that and try to win the game.”

Lue said the Clippers plan to do their part to help the community.

Mann said he will do his part as well.

“I just want to give a bunch of clothes, some money, shoes, whatever I can,” Mann said. “Anything people need help with, I will look to do right now. I actually just texted my folks. They need to meet, we need to go to one of my storage units, grab a bunch of stuff and go somewhere.”