Ford Becomes One of the Ailing

Assistant coach Jim Todd had a “What, me worry?” smile on his face when he walked off the Clippers’ practice floor in Carson on Tuesday.

The Clippers had just completed a 90-minute workout with only eight players because:

* Derek Anderson and Brian Skinner are still out because of ankle injuries.

* Anthony Avent and Maurice Taylor did not work out because they had flu.

* Marty Conlon was not there because he had remained in New York to be with his ill father.

And Coach Chris Ford? He was not there because of back spasms, leaving Todd and assistant Rex Kalamian to conduct the practice.

“We didn’t do too much of Golden State’s [tonight’s opponent] stuff because we just played them,” said Todd, who has more than 25 years’ coaching experience, nine as a head coach at Salem State. “We gave them a lot of shots, a lot of free throws and we talked about one of the reasons why we lost the other night [a one-point loss at Vancouver on Sunday] because we didn’t make our free throws.”

*

Ford, Taylor, Anderson, Skinner and Conlon did not make the trip to Oakland later Tuesday. Ford plans to travel to the game today.

The Clippers are not sure who will start in Taylor’s place, but the lineup may consist of point guard Troy Hudson, shooting guard Eric Piatkowski, small forward Tyrone Nesby, power forward Lamar Odom and center Michael Olowokandi.

TONIGHT

at Golden State, 7

Channel 9

* Site--The Arena in Oakland.

* Radio--KCTD (1540).

* Records--Clippers 6-18, Warriors 6-18.

* Record vs. Warriors--1-0.

* Update--Golden State is coming off an impressive victory over Sacramento on Monday and is looking to avenge a one-point loss to the Clippers last week. Shooting guard John Starks has been the scoring leader for the Warriors, who may still be without forward Antawn Jamison, sidelined by a hip injury.