Joke Is on the Clippers, Who Are Defenseless in Loss to Suns

NBA basketball returned to Orange County on Saturday night, if briefly.

The Clippers, drunk with victory or dizzy trying to figure out who they were covering, were mowed down by the fast-moving, role-changing Phoenix Suns, who led by 23 points before halftime and coasted to a 123-105 victory behind Jason Kidd’s 29 points, Danny Manning’s 21 and Rex Chapman’s 20 before 12,906 in the Pond.

“So much for the winning streak,” Coach Bill Fitch said.

“I’m not really happy with my basketball team right now. This might not be a time to start rantin’ and ravin’, but we have to do something right quick to liven up our defense. In my opinion, that’s what’s letting us down.

“Bad decisions, poor shots, that’s going to happen, but you have to be able to depend on your defense.”

Their defense let them down with a thunderclap Saturday. If this had been an audition, like the one the Lakers’ Eddie Jones played in Sacramento, the locals would put up roadblocks at the county line before the Clippers’ next game here.

The two teams have played twice and the Suns have won both games. On opening night, they got 110 points against the Clippers but, as it turned out, they were only warming up.

Saturday night they scored 31 points in the first quarter, then torched the Clippers in the second when they scored on 12 of their last 14 possessions.

Kidd, who started the night shooting 36.4% with one three-point basket, went 11 for 15 from the floor and made four of six three-pointers. The Suns, who scored 75 points while being routed by the Knicks on Thursday in Phoenix, had 68 in this one by halftime.

There are teams you don’t want to see on the second night of a back-to-back, and the Suns, who spread the court are right up there. Nevertheless, for the Clippers, they were just what the schedule, if not the doctor, ordered.

Sun Coach Danny Ainge has used six players, or half his roster, at center. Five Suns have played power forward. Rex Chapman, a guard all his life, starts at small forward. Kevin Johnson, a point guard all his life, starts at shooting guard.

To let you know where Ainge’s head is, the Suns signed Cliff Robinson, a small forward in Portland. He now starts at center.

Ainge doesn’t like to announce his starting lineup until game time, when the one he turns in to the public address announcer usually changes. Saturday night, the listed one had Cedric Ceballos starting at forward. When the ball went up for the center jump, Ceballos was nowhere to be seen and didn’t put in an appearance until garbage time.

You may remember how Ceballos reacted to losing minutes when he was a Laker. Local fans do; four paraded around the Pond, wearing straw hats and Hawaiian shirts, carrying a sign that said “Cedric Ceballos Fan Club”.

Ceballos is in his free-agent year, as are eight other Suns, another challenge for Ainge.

“I talk to them all the time,” Ainge said before the game. “I tell them exactly how I see it. As a player, I always hated it when I didn’t know what the coach was thinking.

“And I don’t tell them something to get by for a day or two so I don’t have to deal with it.”

The Clippers stayed with the Suns for a minute or two. Then Kidd put Phoenix ahead with the first of his two three-pointers in the first quarter and the tide turned.

The Suns led, 31-26, at the end of the first quarter. Then, things got bad for the Clippers. Over the last 8:12 of the first half, the Suns had the ball 14 times and scored on 12 of those possessions, turning it into a laugher, in Phoenix, anyway.