Barry, Schintzius Go on Injured List

The Clippers put guard Brent Barry and center Dwayne Schintzius on the injured list to reduce their roster to 12. Barry has a sprained left thumb, Schintzius a sprained right ankle. Schintzius, who shot 18% in the exhibition season, and Barry must sit out at least five games before they can be activated.

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The Clippers, 46-118 in Coach Bill Fitch’s two seasons, have learned how to handle failure, but can they handle success?

“They haven’t had much success for me to answer that question, but they’ve sure held together well through hard times,” Fitch said. “But the two toughest things in the world to handle in my opinion are failure and success. We’ve handled the tough times together, but a lot of times you’re destroyed by success, but I’d like to see in a hurry how they handle it.”

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Reserve swingman Eric Piatkowski, who averaged 4.6 points and 1.6 rebounds last season, has worked on his game.

“The biggest improvement is defense,” Fitch said of Piatkowski. “He’s not an easy guy to shake, and I like that. But that’s against our team, when the real world starts, you’ve got to be able to do it.”

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Terry Dehere, who averaged seven points and two assists in six exhibition games, may be the Clippers’ most versatile player. Dehere is expected to be a reserve shooting and point guard.

“Terry is like the microwave, he’s the guy that you bring off the bench for different reasons,” Fitch said.