Frustrated Clippers Beginning to Lose It

SACRAMENTO — These are desperate times for the Clippers, which is probably a victory in itself this late in the season. They need victories on the court rather than consolation prizes. The feel-good moments passed quite some time ago.

You could see it in their faces Tuesday as they played the Sacramento Kings. Smiles were fewer than in past days. Jaws were set a little firmer. They were quicker to anger. More easily frustrated.

Raw emotion got the Clippers only so far against a superior opponent, however, and they fell with a thud to the Kings, 107-90, before a sellout crowd of 17,317 at Arco Arena and a national cable television audience.

The loss was the Clippers’ third consecutive and left them 31/2 games out of a playoff position in the Western Conference standings with 10 games to play. Their streak of holding the opposition under 100 points ended at 14 games.

Meanwhile, in Salt Lake City, the eighth-place Utah Jazz rallied in the fourth quarter to earn a 109-105 victory over the Houston Rockets. It’s to the point now where the ninth-place Clippers are going to need help if they hope to overtake the Jazz and qualify for the playoffs for the first time since 1996-97.

The Clippers play the Jazz twice, including Saturday at Staples Center. But it’s probably going to take more than sweeping both games from Utah in order to vault over the Jazz and move among the top eight in the West by season’s end.

“We just want it so bad,” point guard Jeff McInnis said after the Clippers returned to the .500 mark at 36-36. “We’re just playing so hard. I don’t think we’re putting too much pressure on ourselves. We’re just playing hard.”

After a poor start that left them trailing, 28-21, the Clippers played the Kings to a standstill over the next two quarters. A 79-72 deficit entering the fourth certainly wasn’t insurmountable, but the Kings were too powerful down the stretch.

Chris Webber led Sacramento (50-19) with 35 points on 15-of-21 shooting and Doug Christie added 19 points.

“Chris Webber proved that if he’s not the best power forward in the league, then he’s in the top two or three,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “He played great. They’re a great basketball team.”

Michael Olowokandi countered with 23 points for the Clippers, but got into foul trouble in the third quarter and drew a technical foul after kicking the ball the length of the court in frustration after picking up his fourth personal.

Elton Brand was held to three points and four rebounds and didn’t play in the fourth quarter because of flu-like symptoms. “Who told you?” he asked reporters. “Coach wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”

Gentry said nothing about Brand’s condition or his status for Friday’s game against the Phoenix Suns.

Referring to Olowokandi’s technical foul and other instances when the Clippers could be seen bickering among themselves and at the referees, he said, “The only thing that disappointed me was the way we conducted ourselves. Being young is not an excuse for being stupid. We’ve tried to establish something here and we’re not going to let it slip away in the last 10 games of the season.”

The Kings seemed vulnerable at the start, with Peja Stojakovic sidelined by a strained right hamstring and Hedo Turkoglu falling ill during the pregame warmup because of food poisoning.

Plus, the Kings were still smarting from Sunday’s one-point loss to the Lakers and perhaps looking ahead to a six-game trip that starts Thursday. They held a team meeting before practice Monday to discuss the game against the Lakers, hoping to put it behind them before facing the Clippers and departing on their last lengthy trip of the season.

Somebody named Gerald Wallace smashed any notions of a possible Sacramento letdown by torching the Clippers for 14 points in the first half--only six points off his career best. Wallace drove to the basket for layups and dunks. He followed up missed shots. He launched jump shots from the perimeter.

Nobody in a Clipper uniform seemed interested in checking Wallace, so he kept going and going. Gentry seethed on the sideline, furious at his team’s lack of concern as the deficit climbed to as many as 13 points in the first half.