Clippers still come up short

The owner isn’t returning his coach’s phone calls. An NBA veteran reneges on joining them. And, now, a six-game losing streak.

Those are not the season-long miseries of a franchise, just the latest week-plus summary of the Clippers.

They lost, badly again, 106-80 to the Philadelphia 76ers on Monday at Staples Center, and are one defeat shy of matching their season-high of seven straight losses.

Their bouts against dominating teams ceased, but their being dominated did not.

Owner Donald T. Sterling was not at this loss and things seemed to have calmed down since he and Coach Mike Dunleavy publicly feuded several weeks ago.

However, Sterling has not returned Dunleavy’s phone calls since the coach shot back at the owner’s criticism with some of his own in January.

That’s off the court. On it, glaring issues persist.

Ronald “Flip” Murray, a 6-foot-3 guard, recently spurned the Clippers for the Indiana Pacers.

He prepared his car to be shipped to Los Angeles, but ultimately not himself.

“Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise,” Dunleavy said. “In the sense that someone commits to you and then breaks their word, maybe it’s not a guy you want.”

Dan Dickau, all 6 feet and 180 pounds, is the tallest active point guard. Brevin Knight and now Andre Barrett, both 5-10, are also at the position.

That, Dickau said, has never happened to him. Not in high school. Not in college. Certainly not in the NBA.

“I may have to get the picture of the three of us standing next to each other because that’s a good one,” he quipped.

The position that was a large concern entering the season is a seemingly larger one exiting it.

“Once Shaun [Livingston] comes back healthy, that’s the first order of business right there,” Dunleavy said of righting the position.

And the interim answer?

“In the interim, there is none,” Dunleavy said. “There is no change that I know of right now. We’ve looked for what we think are the best point guards and here we are.”

Andre Iguodala was also here Monday, tallying 18 points to pace six 76ers in double-digit scoring with Philadelphia winning for the 10th time in 13 games.

For the Clippers, rookie Al Thornton flashed both his prodigious potential and his restraining present.

An artistic drive. An offensive foul.

A smooth jump shot. A careless pass.

He scored a game-high 20 points, but also had 10 of the team’s 18 turnovers that Philadelphia turned into 27 points.

“It’s definitely a learning experience for me,” said Thornton, conceding that he tried to do too much in traffic-filled lanes. “I have to try to the best of my abilities to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”

The Clippers (19-39) won’t finish with at least a .500 home record for the first time in five seasons, plunging to 11-21 with nine home games remaining.

They are closing in on being eliminated from other possibilities -- a .500 record and a playoff berth.

“It’s just one of those seasons,” Cuttino Mobley said.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com