Old Friends Not Nice to Clippers : Pro basketball: Jackson helps Brown’s Pacers extend L.A. losing streak to 14 games, 93-84.

Larry Brown and Mark Jackson got out just in time.

Brown fled to Indiana after guiding the Clippers to back-to-back playoff berths in 1992-93 and Jackson, who spent two seasons in L.A., was traded to Indiana after he complained that the Clippers weren’t committed to winning.

The Clippers? They extended their season-opening losing streak to 14 games, falling to the Pacers, 93-84, Thursday night before an announced 6,685 at the Sports Arena.

The Clippers, who shot a season-low 36% (26 of 72), are three losses away from matching the worst start in NBA history, set when the expansion Miami Heat lost its first 17 games in 1988. Several fans behind the basket wore red bags on their heads, indicating that they couldn’t stand to watch the Clippers, who have lost 18 games dating to last season, one shy of the longest streak in team history.

“I tell you what, we played pretty good offense the first quarter against Indiana’s porous defense,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “But they picked it up another level and they came out and played the kind of defense that has made them the team they are.

“We lost our poise. What little space we seemed to have was between our ears, and they took us out of our game with their defense.”

Brown isn’t surprised that the Clippers have deteriorated after losing Danny Manning, Dominique Wilkins, Ron Harper, Charles Smith, Ken Norman and Jackson.

“When you lose the talent they’ve lost and have an injury to Stanley (Roberts), it’s going to be tough,” Brown said. “If you lose your best players and get nothing for them, I don’t care who you are, you’re going to fall. Look at Dallas. They were at a higher level than the Clippers ever were and look at where they fell. . . . It can happen to anyone. But if you get one player in the draft, then everything can change.

“I wanted to stay. Whatever went on, I might have had some problems, but I still wanted to stay here. I don’t think I would have wanted to stay if everything was so bad. I thought they could have been corrected.”

The Clippers traded Jackson to the Pacers for point guard Pooh Richardson, swingman Malik Sealy and the rights to rookie Eric Piatkowski.

“I’m glad to be out,” Jackson said. “You can believe that if you believe nothing else. It’s going to be a long year. I could care less if they win one game or 40 games.

“I’m not here to talk about the Clippers or the organization. I’m not Ron Harper or Dominique Wilkins.

“Everybody knows about the organization and the problems it has and the moves that it’s made. That’s pretty obvious. But the bottom line is having 12 guys who have a commitment to winning and doing whatever it takes. And we never had that.”

The Clippers, who trailed, 69-64, going into the fourth quarter despite shooting 20% in the third quarter, were outscored, 10-2, in the first three minutes of the fourth quarter as Indiana took a 79-66 lead.

Jackson, who averaged 8.3 assists in his first 12 games with the Pacers, had 10 assists and three points in his first game against his former team and is on a pace that would set a team single-season assist record.

“It’s an adjustment for him, but he’s going to be terrific,” Brown said of Jackson. “I think he’s a terrific player and a great guy and a great leader. He wants to win and he wants to help guys get better. But I don’t think I’m the only coach that feels that way.”

Richardson, who missed 13 of 19 shots, had 17 points, four assists, three steals and four turnovers.

Reggie Miller had 24 points, making seven of 12 shots, including five three-pointers, and forward Dale Davis had 16 points and a season-high 14 rebounds as Indiana ended a two-game losing streak.

Clipper Notes

Clipper guard Terry Dehere, who dislocated his right pinky when he collided with Mark Jackson at the end of the second quarter, will be examined by Dr. Tony Daly today. Dehere, who sat out the final 15 minutes of the game, missed eight of 10 shots, including all four shots in the second half. . . . Former Clipper John Williams, who was waived by the club last summer because of a chronic weight problem, has lost 50 pounds since signing with the Pacers. “He’s gone from 340 to 290,” Coach Larry Brown said. “He still has a ways to go, but he’s a lot closer than he was this summer.”