Clippers Beaten by 40 Points : And This Blowout Comes at Home as Jazz Wins, 131-91

Fortunately for those few fanatics who frequent the Sports Arena, almost all of the Clippers’ worst blowout losses so far this season have come on the road.

Saturday night, though, the Clippers saved the dishonor of matching their second most lopsided margin of defeat in franchise history--that’s going back to Buffalo, San Diego and Los Angeles, folks--for the 7,273 home fans who saw them humiliated by the Utah Jazz, 131-91.

Clipper Coach Don Chaney, who called the performance the “worst exhibition of basketball” he’s ever seen, met with the players privately for 10 minutes afterward. That was followed by a 15-minute players-only meeting.

“I’ve never seen this team play this poorly--ever,” Chaney said. “We played without enthusiasm, without effort. I don’t mind losing games, but if you’re going to lose games belly-up, I don’t even want to associate myself with those guys. And I don’t think they want to associate with themselves.”

The fans, too, didn’t want to be associated with the Clippers. Strangely, the 40-point spanking by an average Utah team elicited little negative reaction from the crowd. It was as if the crowd simply didn’t care enough to boo.

“There should have been more boos,” Chaney said. “We stunk up the place.”

Not long after the opening tip, the Clippers (7-14) were well on their way to their worst loss, pointwise and otherwise, of the season. The only question was how big the margin would be.

Utah made sure that it was severe, clearly kicking the Clippers when they were down and out with a 38-point fourth quarter, including a successful three-point shot by Pace Mannion. At least, Jazz Coach Frank Layden mercifully took out Adrian Dantley, who scored a game-high 39 points.

Perhaps a more worthy opponent for Utah on this night would have been the celebrity team from “The Young And The Restless,” which played an exhibition at halftime. After all, the Clippers resembled the Old and the Listless for nearly all of Saturday’s game.

“We talked about our lack of effort, the embarrassment it caused ourselves, the organization and the fans,” team captain Marques Johnson said. “This was really one of my low points--and I’ve had a lot of low points since coming here. You remember this game. This isn’t one you put behind you. It’s an all-time low, so hopefully the only place to go is up.”

Carl Scheer, the Clipper general manager, had a better idea in the third quarter. He took his wife, Marsha, by the arm and got out. The last anyone saw of Scheer was when he pulled out of the parking lot late in the third quarter with the Jazz up by 25.

Can you blame him for bolting?

What really irked Chaney about the game was that the Clippers got down and stayed down.

“These guys aren’t losers,” he said. “I’m telling you, they aren’t losers. I don’t know why they gave up. But I’m not going to give up on them. I’m not going to punish them.”

Just having to participate in the game was punishment alone.

The Clippers were out-rebounded, 56-31. Utah shot 62.2%, the Clippers 38.9%.

Most damaging, though, was the lack of defense. Dantley, as usual, could not be stopped. But point guard John Stockton compiled 14 assists and had no defensive pressure. Guard Bobby Hansen had 16 points, and Thurl Bailey and Rickey Green added 15 each.

The Clippers were led by Johnson’s 17 points and Rory White’s 16, but Johnson made just 7 of 19 shots. Other than that, the Clippers were awful. Norm Nixon was 2 of 10 from the field, Kurt Nimphius 3 of 11 and Michael Cage 3 of 9 with 10 rebounds.

The Clipper players did agree, in their first closed-door meeting of the season, that Chaney should not be blamed. Both Scheer and team President Alan Rothenberg said recently that Chaney’s job is not in question.

“The way the team is playing reflects upon the coaching staff,” Johnson said. “That’s not fair. Don has done all he can. It’s the players.”

Likewise, Chaney said he will not push for any major trades or other personnel changes.

“This team has had enough distractions,” Chaney said. “As far as changes, I think we should stabilize. We should hold still and get ourselves together. I’m not jumping ship on them. I’m staying with them because I know they can play. We know it, too.”

The Clippers just didn’t show it Saturday night--again.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers are off until Tuesday when the host Dallas at the Sports Arena . . . Injured forward Jamaal Wilkes probably will return to the lineup for the Dallas Game. . .In terms of scheduling, December is the easiest month for the Clippers. Eight of the club’s 14 games are at home, many against average NBA teams. The exceptions are Philadelphia (Dec. 26) and Boston (Dec. 30). The Clippers then begin January with a seven-game East Coast trip. “December is very important to us,” Coach Don Chaney said. “If we don’t win a lot of games, we could be so far behind we wouldn’t be able to catch up.”