Clippers Leave Them Howling in Defeat

These are the dog days of the NBA season and the Clippers played as though they were in training for the Iditarod in the first three quarters Thursday night, falling behind by 25 points after three quarters before losing, 111-101, to the Golden State Warriors.

The Clippers also picked the wrong game to give away megaphones because many in the announced crowd of 13,247 at the Pond of Anaheim used them to boo.

But the Clippers outscored the Warriors, 29-11, in a nine-minute, fourth-quarter spurt to pull within 107-101 on a dunk by Charles Outlaw. Jerome Kersey, however, made two free throws with 21.4 seconds remaining and Bimbo Coles added two free throws with 15.5 seconds left as the Warriors held on for the victory.

“It was one of those games where you just try to hang around and see if the fleas will go away, but we couldn’t get it all taken care of tonight,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said.

Center Stanley Roberts, who scored a season-high 25 points in Monday night’s victory over the Portland Trail Blazers, failed to score in 26 minutes, missing six shots.

“I was just double-teamed all night,” Roberts said. “There wasn’t anything I could do except pass it back out. The few shots I took I forced, trying to get something started.”

Roberts and backup center Antonio Harvey did a poor job of checking Warrior center Kevin Willis, who had 24 points, the most he has scored since being acquired from the Miami Heat along with Coles for Tim Hardaway and Chris Gatling in February.

‘I’ve been in this league for 12 years and I’ve seen teams blow leads like that,” Willis said. “I knew that we had the personnel to pull out the win.”

Clipper forward Lamond Murray, fined $5,000 after complaining about his lack of playing time, played for the first time in two games, entering with 3:07 remaining in the third quarter.

“I just went out there and played hard and tried to help the team as much as I could,” said Murray, who had 10 points and two rebounds in 17 minutes. “There’s no bitterness.”

The Warriors (34-43), battling the Sacramento Kings (35-41) and Denver Nuggets (33-43) for the eighth and final Western Conference playoff berth, are 1 1/2 games behind the Kings with five games left.

Warrior guard Latrell Sprewell had 28 points as the Warriors beat the Clippers for the third time in four games.

Clipper Notes

Center Brian Williams sat out his sixth consecutive game because of tendinitis in his right knee. . . . Clipper forward Rodney Rogers, who had 21 points and four rebounds, bruised his right hip in the final quarter. . . . Warrior guard B.J. Armstrong had nine assists in the first quarter and finished with 12 assists and 13 points.