Clippers Fall in Showdown at the Bottom : Pro basketball: Timberwolves, the next-worst team in the NBA, are too tough for 0-15 L.A., 103-95.

The NBA season is only a month old, but the Clippers can already start sending out invitations to their annual lottery party.

The Clippers extended their season-opening losing streak to 15 games, falling behind by 20 points in the fourth quarter and losing to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 103-95, Saturday night before an announced crowd of 6,196 at the Sports Arena.

“To me this is not the end of the world, but we can see it from here,” Clipper rookie center Matt Fish told a radio reporter.

Can it get any worse for the NBA’s worst team?

“To me it was very disappointing because a lot of things we did out on the floor go directly back to some of the things that we’ve spent a lot of time on,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “Whether it’s lack of poise or lack of smarts, we’re starting to see a consistent factor of no-brainers by some of the same people.”

The game, which matched the NBA’s two worst teams, had all the atmosphere of a CBA game. The crowd, the Clippers’ smallest of the season, booed and mocked the home team.

“Sports Illustrated and ESPN and all the people who thought this game was like Game 7 would not have given it the same coverage if it had been the Knicks or Houston in here, and I’m sure Minnesota was well aware of that,” Fitch said.

The Clippers, who matched a club record by losing 19 games in a row dating to last season, are three losses away from breaking the NBA record for the worst start, set when the expansion Miami Heat lost its first 17 games in 1988.

“We’ve got guys on our ballclub that have never won an NBA game,” Fitch said. “We’re seriously trying to get all of them over in the win column.”

The Clippers, who trailed by 12 points at the end of the first quarter, 13 at halftime and 13 at the end of the third quarter, were outscored, 16-9, in the first 4:40 of the final quarter as Minnesota took a 90-70 lead.

But rookie forward Lamond Murray scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the final quarter as the Clippers outscored the Timberwolves, 25-13, in the final 7:20.

“It’s just a tough loss to take,” Murray said. “I don’t think it’s embarrassing. It gets tougher each game that we lose. Each game that we lose it gets harder and harder to keep going out there and playing your heart out every night.”

Forward Christian Laettner had 19 points, 10 rebounds, a season-high six steals and five assists as Minnesota won for the third time in 16 games, all on the road. Doug West and Isaiah Rider each had 19 points as the Timberwolves won their second game in a row.

Forward Loy Vaught, who promised to treat the team to a bottle of expensive champagne if the Clippers won their first game, scored 20 points, including 10 in the third quarter.

The Clippers were optimistic before the game.

Forward Harold Ellis, who predicted on the first day of training camp that the Clippers wouldn’t break the NBA record for most losses in a season, set when the Philadelphia 76ers went 9-73 in 1972-73, predicted before the game that the Clippers wouldn’t break the record for the worst start in league history.

“It’s going to end tonight,” Ellis said. “We need this win. This game is like the most important game this year for us. Win this game, stuff turns around. Lose this game, and it’s chaos.

“I think this is going to be the night. I can’t be like Joe Namath and guarantee it.”

And it’s a good thing Ellis didn’t make any guarantees because the Clippers were awful in the first half, falling behind by 18 points in the second quarter.

Fitch didn’t play enigmatic center Elmore Spencer, who lost his starting job to Fish nine games into the season. Fitch said he rested Spencer because he had back spasms Friday. Fish had a season-high nine rebounds.

* A SAD STATE: The Minnesota Timberwolves are second only to the Clippers when it comes to futility. Mark Heisler’s NBA column, C4