Reality Check: SuperSonics Put Clippers in Place

The Clippers may be the most improved team in the Western Conference, but they haven’t improved enough to beat the defending Western Conference champion Seattle SuperSonics.

After losing oft-injured center Stanley Roberts because of a bruised left hip, the Clippers lost for the first time in three games, 94-78, Thursday night before an announced crowd of 6,238 at the Sports Arena.

The Clippers (4-3) have not beaten a team that made the playoffs last season.

They had a chance to move into first place in the Pacific Division with a victory, but it was not to be.

“This shows us that we have made progress, we are getting better, but not to become too full of ourselves,” said forward Loy Vaught, who had 11 points and 11 rebounds. “We’ve gotten reality checks from the upper-echelon teams and we have beaten the others, so we still have a ways to go, but I want to emphasize that we are making progress.”

Starting center Kevin Duckworth failed to score for the third consecutive game and guard Pooh Richardson also failed to score as the Clippers posted their lowest point total in seven games this season and lost for the 13th consecutive time to the SuperSonics.

“I’m not frustrated at all, no I’m not,” said Duckworth, who has missed five shots in his last three games, including one shot in nine minutes against Seattle. “I’m here and I have a role to play. I try to do what he asks of me.”

Richardson, who missed four shots in 22 minutes, said: “I’ve been playing aggressive defense all year long and they called four fouls on me for that stuff. It’s tough to play aggressive defense when they call a lot of fouls on you early.”

Although the Clippers went into the game ranked second in the NBA in points allowed (84.7) and opponent’s field goal percentage (39.7%), they had several defensive lapses as the SuperSonics shot 46.3%.

“They’re a tough team, but we made it a lot tougher on ourselves than we should have,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “We gave them 17 points in the first half that were free lunches. You can do that against teams that aren’t as good as Seattle, but they make you pay for them.”

Guard Gary Payton had 25 points, eight assists and six rebounds and forward Shawn Kemp had 20 points and 15 rebounds as the SuperSonics (6-2) extended their winning streak to five games.

Vaught, who missed all eight shots in Tuesday’s 99-92 double-overtime victory at Vancouver, missed 11 of 14 shots in 34 minutes.

But Fitch isn’t worried about Vaught.

“Loy will take care of himself,” Fitch said. “I don’t think he’s in the locker room thinking about how many shots he’s going to take.”

Roberts, who has sat out 151 games over the last three seasons because of Achilles’ tendon injuries, bruised his left hip in the second quarter, didn’t play in the second half and is doubtful for tonight’s game against the Lakers at the Forum.

The Clippers, who trailed by 13 points at halftime, cut it to five points on a jumper by reserve guard Darrick Martin, who had 12 points in 18 minutes, with 1:49 left in the third quarter, but Sam Perkins, who had 16 points, made two three-point shots as the SuperSonics ended the quarter with an 8-2 spurt.

After four Clipper starters had failed to score in the first half against Vancouver, two starters--Richardson and Duckworth--failed to score in the first half against the SuperSonics as the Clippers shot 36.1%

Fitch said the Clippers played poor defense on Perkins, who made four of six three-point shots.

“After a while it doesn’t take too long to figure out that Perkins can shoot threes and we had a couple of guys just go to sleep on assignments,” Fitch said.

Said Perkins: “My role is the same every year, come off the bench and try to pick up where the starters left off.”