Frustrations Rise as Clippers Fall : Pro basketball: Williams fouls out for second consecutive game and team loses eighth in a row, 111-104, to Pacers.

Clipper center Brian Williams threw up his right hand in frustration as he walked slowly to the bench after fouling out of Sunday’s 111-104 loss to the Indiana Pacers late in the fourth quarter.

Some among the 15,792 at Market Square Arena seated behind the Clipper bench thought Williams made an obscene gesture after fouling out of a game for the second consecutive time.

“If you write that I flipped that crowd off, I’ll kick your [behind]. I didn’t flip them off. I had my hand up like this and I went like this,” Williams said, throwing his hand up. “Where is there an [obscene gesture] in that?

“It was exasperation. If they misconstrue it, they misconstrue it . . . dumb hicks. That’s all right, they only have a seventh-grade education. I’ve got no love for them.”

Williams has no love for the NBA’s replacement officials either.

“I think we got penalized for good defense,” Williams said. “[Indiana center] Rik Smits played 40 minutes and had no fouls. He had a hell of a game and no fouls?”

Williams and backup center Keith Tower got into early foul trouble and couldn’t effectively check Smits, who scored a career-high 44 points as Indiana (8-9) extended the Clippers’ losing streak to eight in a row.

“We got hurt defensively because it’s pretty tough to play [Smits] when you’ve got both your centers with three [fouls] and they’re walking on eggs,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “That’ll be the big difference when the other officials get back [this week]. These guys just don’t know how to call a post-up game either way.

“It’s very difficult for post people to play when you don’t know for sure what a foul is and what isn’t, and [Smits] is the wrong guy to be guarding with 6-foot-8 power forwards because he’s a very good shooter.”

Smits tied a team record by making 20 field goals, in 29 attempts, and had a season-high 10 rebounds.

Sidelined for the first 12 games of the season while recovering from ankle surgery, Smits averaged 13 points and 5.8 rebounds in his first four games.

“It always helps to play like that, but it doesn’t make your ankle feel any better,” Smits said. “But when you get the hot hand you tend to forget about the pain.

“It was hurting before the game, and I aggravated it on the first play of the game. I tried not to think about it the rest of the way.”

Pacer Coach Larry Brown was uncertain if Smits could play.

“I spoke to him before the game, and I didn’t know if he was going to play,” Brown said. “He’s hurting, but he looked really good today and I’m not talking about the 44 points.

“Rik was sensational. I was disappointed we didn’t throw it to him every time. We’ve always got to go to Rik. If we didn’t go to him, I don’t know what our options would be. He opens it up for everybody.”

The Clippers, who trailed by as many as 22 points in the third quarter, outscored the Pacers, 23-12, during a fourth-quarter spurt as guard Terry Dehere scored 12 of his team-high 18 points to cut the lead to 107-104 with 1:52 remaining.

But the Clippers (7-13), who lack a consistent clutch scorer, were held scoreless for the rest of the game.

“We make good runs and get ourselves back into the games, but once we get ourselves back we have to get over the top,” said Clipper forward Loy Vaught, who had 14 points and 10 rebounds.

“We have to do what we can with what we have. That means guys have to step up because there are no superstars on this team.”