For Austin, It’s Not Heat, It’s Humility

In his debut with the Clippers on Saturday night, center Isaac Austin saw his team surge into the lead, then collapse and stumble to another defeat.

Get used to it, Ike. You’re not in Miami anymore.

Exhilaration spread from the bench to the stands early Saturday night at the Sports Arena. With Austin, obtained from the Miami Heat, on the floor, the Clippers surged into a 19-point, second-quarter lead over the Charlotte Hornets.

But, before halftime, the Hornets put together an 18-2 run, including 10 consecutive points, and then blew the Clippers out in the second half to win, 111-98, breaking a three-game Charlotte losing streak.

But the loss, the Clippers’ sixth in a row and 14th in their last 15 games to drop them to 11-43, still offered hope for the future.

Although he was obviously out of sync, playing with new teammates without even the benefit of a full practice, Austin gave the Clippers a new look.

Now there is a 6-foot-10, 270-pound wide body in the middle that opposing offenses must deal with. Now there is a center who must receive double-team consideration. Now there is a natural center who seems to find passing the ball as easy as shooting it.

Playing 29 minutes, Austin had 16 points--making six of 12 shots from the floor and four of eight from the free-throw line--grabbed a team-high 10 rebounds and handed out three assists.

“I was rusty,” Austin said. “I felt I was rushing a lot. I was trying to get a feel.

“But I haven’t been running, I haven’t practiced and I have been going through this transition.”

Lorenzen Wright started at center as he has been doing for the Clippers. When Austin came onto the floor with 46.4 seconds remaining in the first quarter, he drew cheers from the crowd of 9,846.

It didn’t take Austin long to fit in. When the quarter had ended, Rodney Rogers, back in action after missing two games because of a sprained ankle, Lamond Murray and Darrick Martin came over to high-five Austin, their new teammate.

When Rogers was called for a technical foul in the second quarter, it was Austin who came over to calm him down.

“He showed he’s been away,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said of Austin. “But he also showed why he can help us.

“Maybe he tried a little too hard a couple of times to do too much, but I’m glad he’s on our side.”

At the start of the game, it was Clipper guard Eric Piatkowski, not Austin, who was drawing the attention of the crowd. He led the Clippers to their hot start, making three three-point baskets en route to 13 first-quarter points.

Piatkowski, who came into the game averaging 10 points, seemed certain to break his season high of 24.

But he wound up scoring only three more the rest of the game.

Maurice Taylor wound up as the Clippers’ high scorer with 17 points after shooting eight for 13.

The brunt of the Hornet scoring was shared by Anthony Mason (25 points), Glenn Rice (23) and David Wesley (21).

Center Matt Geiger, assigned to handle Austin in the middle, grabbed a game-high 13 rebounds. Rice added 12 and Mason 10 on a night when the Clippers were beaten on the boards, 45-32.

In dropping to 1-21 against Eastern Conference teams, including 0-11 at home, the Clippers faded badly in the second half, scoring only 37 points after collecting 61 in the first half.

In the first half, they shot 57.9% from the floor.

But in the third quarter, they managed to shoot only six for 17 from the floor (35.3 percent) and they didn’t do much better in the fourth quarter when they made only nine of 24 (37.5%).

“I would hope that the first quarter is something you will see

more of,” Fitch said, “and the last three quarters are something you will see less of.”

The Clippers are hoping that seeing more of Austin, especially with a few practices behind him, will make the difference.

At one point early in the game, Martin jumped on Austin’s back as the team came off the floor.

It was a symbolic move if ever there was one. All the Clippers must now jump on Austin’s back and hope he can carry them back to respectability.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

FIRST IMPRESSION

How Austin fared in debut with Clippers:

Minutes: 29

Points: 16

FG-FGA: 6-12

Rebounds: 10

Blocked Shots: 0

Assists: 3