Clippers No Match for (Fill in the Blank) : This Time It’s 76ers; 28 Turnovers and 11th Straight Defeat

As expected, the Clippers were blown out by the Philadelphia 76ers Wednesday night. But their 121-103 loss in front of 11,621 fans at the Spectrum could have been worse. Really.

It wasn’t until late in the fourth quarter, after all, when Philadelphia finally ended the suspense and Wednesday’s Game

buried the Clippers. Before that, the 76ers sort of toyed with their opponents, letting them pull to within three points in the third quarter and eight in the fourth.

Eventually, though, Philadelphia decided to get serious and rid themselves of the Clippers, who wouldn’t go away on their own. The 76ers did it with a burst of 10 straight points in the game’s final three minutes.

Yes, it could have been worse. But that was no consolation to the Clippers, who lost their 11th straight game and 15th straight on the road. Their record in the Don Chaney coaching era fell to 0-5, which obviously did not sit well with Chaney.

Chaney took over on an interim basis a week ago, but it wasn’t until Wednesday night that he showed his first signs of frustration. It wasn’t the loss that irked Chaney; it was his feeling that the players didn’t put out maximum effort.

Also, he was especially upset because of one statistic: 28 Clipper turnovers. Not since the worst days of the Jim Lynam era have the Clippers turned over the ball so often.

“We just didn’t have the effort tonight,” Chaney said. “The story here is turnovers. We just turned it over too much, and you can’t do it and expect to win. We played lousy overall, I agree. But above everything else, there was turnovers.”

The Clippers’ 28 turnovers resulted in 33 Philadelphia points. Again, it could have been worse. The 76ers shot only 47.8%, commited 14 turnovers and were outrebounded, 46-39.

Obviously, the 76ers have the talent and depth to play sluggishly and still beat the league’s weaker teams. The Clippers, on the other hand, need every ounce of intensity to beat the average teams, let alone one as strong as Philadelphia.

Said Clipper forward Marques Johnson: “Turnovers just took us out of the game. They put a lot of pressure on you. We were going OK there for a while.”

Added Chaney: “We stayed within close proximity of them with six minutes left in the fourth (quarter), and I thought we were in a position to overtake them. But we had too many turnovers. It makes no sense to make runs if you’re only going to get within six or eight points. Again, it was the turnovers.”

But it also was a lot of Moses Malone (22 points, 8 rebounds) and reserve George Johnson (18 points, 8 rebounds). Other than those performances, the 76ers were merely average. Julius Erving made 3 of 13 shots and scored only 8 points. Andrew Toney was 7 of 21 and scored 20, and Bobby Jones, Maurice Cheeks and Charles Barkley all added 11.

The Clippers received 23 points from guard Derek Smith--the 12th straight game he has scored more than 20 points--Johnson had 20 and Junior Bridgeman 16.

For a brief stretch in the second quarter, the Clippers actually had a seven-point lead (37-30 with 5:57 left). Even more surprising, they did it with their second team. After Chaney re-inserted four starters, the 76ers surged to a 53-43 halftime lead.

“That’s not a nice reflection on our first unit,” Johnson said. “But that’s the way it goes.”

So it goes for the downtrodden Clippers.

Clipper Notes

Michael Cage and Harvey Catchings both sprained ankles Wednesday. Cage is out for tonight’s game at Indianapolis and Catchings is questionable.