Clippers Take Them One at a Time : Pro basketball: They avoid worst start in history by beating Bucks, but still could threaten season record for futility.

Coach Bill Fitch didn’t have time to celebrate after the Clippers ended a 16-game season-opening losing streak with a 96-94 overtime victory over the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday night at the Sports Arena.

“I went home and took the (assistant) coaches and we did the routine,” Fitch said. “We tore the game down and then we started on L.A. (preparing for tonight’s game against the Lakers). About 2:30, they went home, and about 5:10 this morning, I turned the VCR off.

“We all agree what’s important is what we have to do now, not what we did yesterday.”

Although the Clippers avoided tying the NBA record for the worst start--the expansion Miami Heat lost its first 17 games in 1988--they still are on pace to break the NBA record for the fewest victories in a season, set by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who had a 9-73 record.

“I’m not going to get into that until the time comes that it’s a factor,” Fitch said. “But you face that any time you go 0-16. Until we’ve got 14 games to go, don’t ask me again. When you’ve got 14 games to go, then it’s a creditable question.”

Said forward Malik Sealy: “That’s going to be the question on all your minds, ‘Can they break the record or win at least nine?’ ”

The Clippers, who had lost a franchise-record 20 consecutive games dating to last season, hope to start a winning streak instead.

“Hopefully, the monkey is off our back and maybe we can string a few of these victories together,” said forward Loy Vaught, who had a career-high 30 points, 14 rebounds and five steals in 52 minutes against the Bucks.

Guard Pooh Richardson, who made the game-winning shot as time expired, agreed.

“Hopefully, we can build a winning streak,” he said. “We’ve got a lot of young guys and nothing is ever going to come easy to this team. Things are going to get easier as we start being more positive.”

Fitch, who made his reputation by rebuilding bad teams, has a lot of work ahead.

Guard Terry Dehere, the Clippers’ second-leading scorer, is expected to be sidelined 10-14 days because of a sprained right ankle. Dehere, who averaged 14.2 points despite shooting only 38.9% , was injured 5 1/2 minutes into the second half Wednesday night.

The Clippers collapsed after Dehere’s injury, shooting only 27% in the third quarter while scoring only 14 points.

“Injuries are part of the game and we’ve had a lot of injuries,” Fitch said. “I don’t think we played very well without Terry in the fourth quarter, but we adjusted well enough in the overtime.”

The Clippers can’t put Dehere on the injured list because the NBA allows teams to have only three players on it at a time and the Clippers already have centers Stanley Roberts and Elmore Spencer and guard Gary Grant on it.

A platoon of Sealy, forward Harold Ellis and rookie forward Eric Piatkowski, who had seven points in the fourth quarter Wednesday night, is expected to replace Dehere.

Fitch changed his starting lineup against the Bucks, using rookie forward Lamond Murray in place of center Matt Fish. Tony Massenburg, who started the Clippers’ first 16 games at power forward, moved to center and Vaught moved back to power forward, the position he played last season.

Murray, the Clippers’ top draft pick, had 19 points, four rebounds and four assists in his first NBA start. He had four of the eight points the Clippers scored in the five-minute overtime.

“Lamond made some big, big plays at both ends of the court,” Fitch said. “He made some plays at the defensive end that you don’t get credit for. He was there to prevent a lot of easy baskets. He made smart plays. That’s the hardest thing to learn, and the thing that will keep him out on the floor is playing that kind of defense.”

Murray, the seventh player selected in the draft, said he felt more comfortable starting than he had as a reserve. After averaging 11.4 points in his first 16 games, he scored 11 points in the first half against the Bucks.

“It felt great to get out there on the floor early and get into the flow of the game,” Murray said.