Shooting Percentages Are Suffering

The good news for the Clippers is, they began Tuesday’s game against Phoenix with the 12th-best defense in the league, giving up 97.7 points a game.

The bad news for the Clippers is, they have the 27th-best offense, only Washington and Chicago averaging fewer than their 91.3 points.

“I think our defense has not been bad,” Coach Chris Ford said. “It’s just that when you go against a team that can score and you go through a drought [you will have problems]. . . . We’re just fortunate to have a chance to win [games].”

It shouldn’t be a surprise that a team shooting 41.4% would be last in the league in assists with 194. New Jersey is second-last and the Nets began Tuesday night’s game against Washington with 39 more assists than the Clippers.

“Our guys still have to take the first shot that’s open,” said point guard Troy Hudson, who averaged 3.3 assists over the first 13 games of the season. “If it’s a clear shot, we all know we have to take it. If it goes in, everyone’s happy.”

Ford still believes in his shooters but his patience is wearing thin. “We showed that we can still hang tough and . . . have chances to win games, but it still comes down to where we have to shoot the ball much better,” Ford said. “We can’t shoot 41% and win a lot of games.”

Among the regulars in Ford’s rotation, Brian Skinner has the highest shooting percentage, 50.6%. Maurice Taylor is next at 46.4%, followed by Michael Olowokandi at 46%.

*

Over the first month , Lamar Odom leads NBA rookies in scoring with 18.9 points a game.