Woeful Clippers Ease the Pain for Warriors : Pro basketball: After trailing by 35 points, L.A. loses, 106-89, to shorthanded Golden State.

Once expected to contend for the NBA title, the Golden State Warriors, who led the league in games missed because of injuries in 1993-94, appear to be limping toward an NBA injury title again this season.

The full-strength Clippers, however, eased the pain Friday night, falling behind by 35 points early in the fourth quarter before losing their fourth consecutive game, 106-89, to the Warriors before a crowd of 15,025.

Center Chris Gatling had 20 points and seven rebounds as the Warriors ended a four-game losing streak. Guard Tim Hardaway had 15 points and 14 assists.

Carlos Rogers added 18 points and a season-high 17 rebounds as the Warriors outrebounded the Clippers, 58-39.

The Warriors, who had only nine players for Wednesday night’s loss at Atlanta, had 10 Friday and were also without Coach Don Nelson, who stayed home with flu. Nelson’s son, Donn, replaced him.

“We got our butts handed to us,” said guard Malik Sealy, who missed six of seven shots and has missed 12 of 14 shots in his last two games. “I don’t know what it was, a little fatigue. I know one thing, we missed about 15 shots in a row every three minutes.”

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch agreed.

“They just kicked us, that’s all,” Fitch said. “It’s not a very pretty sight and not fun to go through, but now we’ve got to circle the wagons. Custer didn’t even get to do that. I was at Custer’s Last Stand. When you keep asking me how old I am, I was there.”

The Warriors, who started their eighth different lineup in eight games, haven’t had 12 sound players since Dec. 6.

All-star guard Latrell Sprewell, averaging a team-high 21.4 points, missed his third consecutive game because of a sprained right foot and center Rony Seikaly sat out his 10th game in a row with tendinitis in his right ankle.

Guards Chris Mullin (sprained left ankle) and Ricky Pierce (back) and center Manute Bol (torn knee cartilage) are on the injured list.

“I can’t point to any one specific thing,” said Clipper center Tony Massenburg. “It was a combination of a lot of things that add up to a bad game. I’m sure it’s not the first one you’ve seen.”

Rookie forward Lamond Murray missed 10 of 11 shots in the first half as the Clippers shot only 30.6%. Murray, who didn’t play the fourth quarter, wound up missing 12 of 17 shots.

Loy Vaught, who tied his career high by scoring 30 points in last Monday’s loss at Detroit, had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Fitch thinks some of his players may be worrying about who’ll be waived when the Clippers activate center Elmore Spencer, expected to begin practicing next week after being placed on the injured list Dec. 5 because of apparent emotional and personal problems.

“I’ve got too many guys worried about who’s going to go when Spencer comes back than worrying about playing today’s game,” Fitch said. “The truth of the matter is if you play every game like you played tonight, there’ll be a whole freight train (of cuts). They’ll just come through and pick them all up.”