Clippers Aren’t Partial: They Get Blown Out by the Worst of Them

Norm Nixon summed up how the Clippers must have felt after their 106-77 loss to the Indiana Pacers Saturday night.

He slinked over to his locker, covered his face with a towel and then lowered his head between his legs. Like his teammates, Nixon no doubt wanted to hide after being blown out by the Pacers , who entered the game with the NBA’s worst record, 9-22.

Once he emerged from his brief moment of silent embarrassment, Nixon had to face the ugly facts and figures in what had to rate among the Clippers’ top (bottom?) five blowout losses this season. Considering the quality of competition, this might have been the worst.

“What can I say?” said Nixon, who made 2 of 12 shots. “We couldn’t beat Loyola (Marymount University) right now.”

That might not be too much of an overstatement, if you judged the Clippers by their performance Saturday.

The 77-point output was the Clippers’ third-lowest ever. If not for a fourth-quarter “rally,” in which they scored 22 points, the Clippers might have challenged their all-time low of 63 points.

For the game, the Clippers shot 35% from the field and 54% from the free-throw line, surprising only because neither were season lows. Not surprisingly, the Pacers held a 59-46 rebounding advantage against the smaller and less aggressive Clipper front line.

Statistics don’t relate the pathetic nature of this loss. There were many botched and bumbling plays.

There was Clipper guard Franklin Edwards throwing a beautiful cross-court pass to a wide-open fan sitting in the baseline seats.

There was forward Marques Johnson, trying to prevent another Indiana fast break by grabbing the jersey of a Pacer and not even drawing a foul. Johnson eventually fell, and the Pacers scored another layup.

And there was Clipper center Benoit Benjamin, watching passively as Ron Anderson, the Pacers’ 6-foot 7 inch reserve forward, grabbed three offensive rebounds in a row before being fouled.

Benjamin, however, did provide the highlight in an otherwise dismal night. It happened late in the second quarter, when Benjamin actually dove on the floor to retrieve a loose ball. There was speculation, though, that Benjamin wound up on the floor only because he had tripped.

Johnson, who scored 21 points and was the only Clipper who played well, chose not to cover his head with a towel.

“We continually get blown out by teams we shouldn’t lose to,” Johnson said. “As a player, right now I’m just trying to get a handle on it. It has happened so much this year that, consciously or unconsciously, once we get down by 15 or 20 points early, we quit. Like tonight, against a team with nine wins.

“We have better talent than what is reflected in this game.”

Those in the crowd of 8,503 at Market Square Arena would find that statement debatable. The Clippers are lacking in talent in several areas, but the biggest problems has been lack of a quality center.

The Clippers are consistently being dominated underneath. In their last three games, the Clippers have been outrebounded, 176-109. Clipper General Manager Carl Scheer is joining the club in Atlanta Monday, and Coach Don Chaney said he’s hoping to acquire a big man to replace retired Jamaal Wilkes.

“I think we need a big man, for sure,” Chaney said. “All the good big people are going to cost you. I don’t want to give up one of my vital players to get a big man. It depends who that player is.”

Said Nixon: “We need anybody , man. We’ve got 10 players now (Derek Smith still is out with a sore left knee) and we continually get beaten inside. Everybody drives the middle on us. Say what you want about (James) Donaldson, but when he was here, he clogged the middle.”

Even though Pacer center Steve Stipanovich scored 25 points and had 15 rebounds and power forward Herb Williams added 19 points and 9 rebounds against the Clippers big men, you can’t place total blame there.

The Clippers’ offense was inept (“We missed so many shots,” Chaney said), and the defensive effort was mostly futile.

“I’m real worried about the team’s morale,” he said. “(I’m) very discouraged at this point. It’s not as if we’re playing the Boston Celtics. I don’t think (the Pacers) are that much better than we are.”

The 29-point spread proved otherwise.

Clipper Notes

Clipper Coach Don Chaney spoke with injured guard Derek Smith Saturday night, and it appears as though Smith will not join the team in Atlanta today, as planned. Smith’s therapist told General Manager Carl Scheer and trainer Mike Shimensky that Smith still is feeling soreness in his left knee. “We won’t have Derek come unless he’s healthy enough to play,” Scheer said from Los Angeles Saturday.