Clippers Can’t Stop the Bucks

Forward Ken Norman was perhaps the hardest-working and most inspirational player the Clippers had over the last six years.

The Clippers could have used Norman, not to mention hard work and emotion, during a 105-92 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks Monday night before an announced crowd of 9,553 at the Sports Arena.

Clipper guard Ron Harper, who scored a team-high 20, said the Clippers play better on the road.

“We get beat by teams that shouldn’t even be close to us,” Harper said. “This is just ridiculous.

“Just answer me this question. Do you like coming here and playing? Just answer that honestly. I think we play much better when we play on the road. I don’t think anybody likes coming here and playing. We just don’t, point blank.

“This is frustrating. And the longer it lasts, the more frustrating it gets.

“I’m glad that Kenny Norman is having fun. Their team goes out and plays hard and just has fun. We aren’t having fun playing. You can tell as we lose that we aren’t having fun playing. And if you don’t have any enthusiasm for the game it isn’t fun no more.”

How could the Clippers have fun again?

“You don’t want me to answer that,” Harper said. “You don’t want me to be the GM of this team, there’d be a lot of heads rolling. I just might even take my own head and roll it.”

Norman, who signed with the Bucks last summer, scored a team-high 20 points and grabbed 10 rebounds as the Bucks (6-18) handed the Clippers (9-13) their third loss in a row.

“I don’t hold any grudges against the Clippers,” Norman said. “I had six good years here in L.A.”

Trailing, 85-82, after Danny Manning, who had 19 points, sank a jumper, the Clippers were outscored, 20-10, in the last 6:52 of the game.

“We played cool down the stretch,” Norman said. “We gave them both of the earlier games this year (an exhibition game and a regular-season game 12 days ago). Tonight I really wanted to win.”

The Clippers, who have lost seven of 10 games this month, played poor team defense against the Bucks, the NBA’s third-lowest scoring team. Milwaukee, off to the second-worst start in franchise history, broke the 100-point barrier for the first time in five games.

What went wrong?

“Just about everything,” Clipper Coach Bob Weiss said after meeting with General Manager Elgin Baylor after the game. “It seems like as soon as something goes wrong everyone tries to do it themselves.”

Booed off the court at the end of the third quarter, the Clippers scored six points in a row at the start of the fourth quarter to cut the Bucks’ lead to 77-72. Manning had a jumper and a layup in the spurt and backup point guard Randy Woods, who had a career-high 10 points, had a jumper and an assist.

The Clippers cut it to three, but Lee Mayberry made a three-pointer with 6:10 to go to give Milwaukee an 88-82 lead. Blue Edwards, who had 17 points, added a layup and a short jumper for 92-82.

Clipper guard Mark Jackson, who had 10 assists and nine points, said the team is searching for answers to solve its slump.

“I don’t have a reason for the way we’re playing,” Jackson said. “To find out why we’re playing like this, you have to look in the mirror from head to toe.”

Clipper Notes

The NBA Players Assn., which filed a grievance on behalf of suspended forward John Williams, has reached an agreement with the Clippers that will allow an independent doctor to determine when Williams is ready to return from a weight-loss clinic. Williams, who ballooned to more than 300 pounds, was suspended without pay after entering a weight-loss clinic at Duke last October. . . . Clipper guard Gary Grant, who sat out Saturday night’s 116-109 loss at Phoenix with stomach flu, was in uniform Monday night but didn’t play.