Clipper Coach Blasts Team After 122-99 Defeat : Lynam Discovers It’s Difficult Not to Be Critical Following Sixth Straight Loss

Clipper Coach Jim Lynam, who rarely has anything disparaging to say about his team no matter the outcome, found a lot to criticize after Thursday night’s 122-99 loss to the New Jersey Nets before a crowd of 9,436 at the Brendan Byrne Arena.

And, for a change, Lynam decided to air his opinions.

Instead of keeping to his usual post-game ritual of opening the locker room and letting the media come to him, Lynam left the room in a huff and presented himself to the waiting press.

“I just said what I had to say to them and got out,” said Lynam, who wouldn’t repeat what he told his players after their sixth straight loss. “I will say that I didn’t like our effort in the first half. Giving up 70 points and 16 offensive rebounds in the first half makes it tough to comeback.

“I liked the effort in the second half, but we beat ourselves. What’s depressing is that we had our chances in the second half but kept turning over the ball.”

After falling behind, 70-55, at halftime and no doubt receiving a slew of unkind words from Lynam, the Clippers pulled within six points (86-80) late in the third quarter before slipping back into their first-half funk. By the six-minute mark in the fourth quarter, the Clippers were assured of their sixth straight loss.

“We pull to within six points and then we commit three straight turnovers,” Lynam said. “We didn’t even get a shot off. We have to play harder and make fewer mistakes. We can’t keep beating ourselves.”

All three losses on this trip, which mercifully ended Thursday, were primarily cases of the Clippers beating themselves. They opened the trip with a 26-point loss to the New York Knicks, who played without Bernard King and a true center. The slide continued in Cleveland, where the Clippers lost by 16. And Lynam already covered what happened against the Nets.

Of course, injuries have played a major role in the losses. Marques Johnson (sprained right ankle) and Michael Cage (flu) missed the first two games but played against the Nets, and Bill Walton sat out Thursday’s loss with soreness in his right heel.

Walton said afterward that he doesn’t know when he’ll return to the lineup. But he inferred that he won’t be back soon, at least not for Saturday’s game against the Lakers at the Sports Arena.

“I’m going to take some time off and get this under control,” said Walton, who had played in 40 straight games before Thursday. “How long a period of time (it will take) I don’t know. The most appropriate thing to say is that I’m day-to-day.”

James Donaldson, Walton’s replacement at center, scored 15 points and had 18 rebounds in 46 minutes. But without Walton, it hurts the Clippers’ rebounding strength and depletes their bench.

“You can’t use injuries as an excuse; that’s the NBA,” guard Norm Nixon said. “You have to play through them. That’s what separates the teams that are good from the teams that aren’t.”

At this point, the Clippers obviously aren’t a good team. In discussing Thursday’s loss and Lynam’s post-game remarks, Clipper players had different views.

Guard Derek Smith, who led the Clippers with 22 points: “To say we didn’t try and just laid down, that’s a bunch of bull. . . . We went out there and tried hard, just like the other 46 games. We came out there with the intent to win the game. But as it turned out, we didn’t have it tonight.”

Countered Johnson, who scored 14 points in 23 minutes after missing the last six games with the sprained ankle: “I didn’t particularly care for our play in either half. I really didn’t think the effort was there. I’d have to agree with Jimmy. He was extremely upset and had the right to be.”

Nixon: “If I was the coach, I’d be upset, too.”

Among the statistics that upset the Clippers was the 22 turnovers they committed, their cold 45.1% shooting and the fact that they were again out-rebounded.

New Jersey, which also has been struggling lately, had seven players score in double figures. Otis Birdsong had 20 points, while Darwin Cook had 15, Kelvin Ransey and Micheal Ray Richardson each with 13, Mike O’Koren and Albert King each with 12, and Jeff Turner 11.

This was the Nets’ first game with a complete lineup as center Darryl Dawkins returning from a back injury. Dawkins had eight points, included a dunk he dedicated to New Jersey’s resident rock star, Bruce Springsteen.

“I felt like ‘Dancin’ In the Dark,’ ” Dawkins said. “I called it my ‘Spine Chiller Supreme.’ ”

The Clippers, conversely, seemed to be playing in the dark--again.