Clippers Have Energy Crisis in Defeat

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch wore a disgusted expression during Saturday night’s game against the Utah Jazz.

“You guys are sleepwalking,” Fitch screamed at one of his players.

The Clippers never woke up, falling behind by as many as 30 points in the fourth quarter en route to losing their fourth consecutive game, 106-82, Saturday night before an announced crowd of 14,972 at the Pond of Anaheim.

“We have no excuse,” Fitch said after the Clippers shot a season-low 32.4%. “No one ever should play that poorly. No energy. . . . No discipline to the fundamentals of basketball. We tried to defy the fundamentals too many times.”

Center Brian Williams agreed.

“We played terrible,” Williams said. “We lacked energy. We didn’t have it.

“I particularly don’t like playing here. It’s a road game. I was up at 8 o’clock when you barely get to bed at 2 o’clock the night before. It’s no treat to come down here and play.

“We get more vocal fans out of 5,000 at the Sports Arena than we do out of 15,000 or 12,000 here. I don’t see what the big bonus about playing in Anaheim is, I’ll take the mausoleum any day.”

Guard Brent Barry started his second consecutive game in place of Malik Sealy, who was put on the injured list Friday because of a broken right thumb.

Barry, who had two points and a team-high six turnovers before fouling out in Friday night’s 106-100 loss to the Lakers, tried to put it behind him.

“What game?” Barry said when asked about his performance against the Lakers. “I’ve put it out of sight and out of mind. It’s over with.”

Barry put it behind him by scoring a season-high 22 points.

One of the few bright spots on a dismal night for the Clippers (15-24) was the return of center Stanley Roberts, who sat out 23 games because of a sprained ankle.

Roberts, who played two short stints, had five points and three rebounds in 14 minutes.

Roberts brought the crowd to life with a dunk after a Terry Dehere miss with 8:22 left in the fourth quarter.

“Defensively, we were a monstrosity,” Fitch said. “The energy? I don’t know, I think for the number of minutes some of them were out there and the amount of money we get paid for doing our jobs, there’s no reason not to run up and down the floor. There may be a reason that the ball doesn’t go in and you don’t execute the fundamentals, but you never, never should come in and not get up and down the floor and run with a little more energy than what we had.”

Forward Loy Vaught, who had a season-high 28 points and 15 rebounds against the Lakers, missed 11 of 13 shots and finished with six points and eight rebounds.

Williams, who was averaging 17.1 points and nine rebounds in his last 14 games, missed six of eight shots and had seven points and two rebounds.

Dehere had 15 points, but missed six of 10 shots in his second consecutive start at point guard in place of Pooh Richardson, sidelined because of a calf injury.

Clipper Notes

Karl Malone, who averaged 31 points and 11 rebounds as the Jazz won three of four games against the Clippers last season, had 21 points, seven rebounds and five assists in 31 minutes. . . . Guard John Stockton had 14 points and 15 assists. . . . Lou Rosenberg, who has spent the last 6 1/2 years as the Clippers’ promotions director, resigned to take a position with the Ice Dogs of the International Hockey League. . . . Friday night’s announced crowd of 14,018 for the Laker game was the Clippers’ largest Sports Arena crowd of the season.