Suns’ 17-0 Run Spells the End for the Clippers

The game clock was down to the final seconds Friday night and the Clippers’ Lamond Murray had the ball near halfcourt. With Phoenix’s George McCloud in his face, Murray launched a running three-point shot that hit nothing but net to break a tie.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, Murray’s heroics closed the first half and not the game.

Phoenix began the third quarter with a 17-0 run and the Clippers never recovered as they lost their season opener, 101-92, before a crowd of 7,689 at the Sports Arena.

Chris Ford’s coaching debut with the Clippers might have had a better ending if not for Phoenix’s Tom Gugliotta, who had a game-high 24 points and 17 rebounds. Jason Kidd added 18 points and 10 assists and all five starters finished in double figures.

“I thought we played well in the first half. We did some good things moving the ball offensively,” said Ford, whose team shot only 40.7% from the field and had 21 turnovers.

“The third quarter we stopped talking defensively. Our rotation was not there. In the 17-0 run, we had quite a few turnovers and we had no getting back on transition. They just outran us.”

Michael Olowokandi, the Clippers’ No. 1 draft choice, had a solid first game with 14 points and six rebounds in 22 minutes off the bench.

“I thought that Michael did a very good job coming in there, doing what he does well,” Ford said. “Hopefully, he’ll build off of this. There were some size difference when he had to guard some smaller players. He’s a 5 [center] and he had to guard quite a few 4s [power forwards] out there. . . . I thought he did a good job.”

With Rex Chapman not in uniform because of a sore hamstring, Phoenix started George McCloud at shooting guard and he matched up early against the Clippers’ Eric Piatkowski, who got off to a strong start with 11 first-quarter points.

Piatkowski struggled to get good looks for his shot in the Clippers’ two exhibition losses to the Lakers, but he came out firing against the Suns. With Murray scoring six points from the outside and Piatkowski making his shots, the Clippers controlled much of the first 12 minutes.

Phoenix, however, led by three at the start of the second quarter, 28-25. Olowokandi, who played only the final 1:44 of the first quarter, scored back-to-back baskets to help the Clippers close within 30-29 before Phoenix made a 13-7 run to take a 43-36 lead with 5:33 remaining in the quarter.

The Clippers responded with a rally to close the first half, led by point guard Darrick Martin, who had 10 points and six assists before halftime. Martin made consecutive three-point baskets to go along with a right-hand dunk by Olowokandi to highlight a 20-10 Clipper run that was finished by Murray’s halfcourt shot.

The Clippers came out for the second half playing a lot like the team that lost to the Lakers by 31 points in their first exhibition game.

Quick shots and bad passes helped Phoenix score 17 unanswered points, with veteran forward Cliff Robinson and Jason Kidd doing most of the damage.

Robinson, who finished with 17 points, and Kidd combined for 16 points in the third quarter. The Clippers, who shot only 36.8% in the quarter, did not score their first points of the second half until 6:07 remained on a jump hook by Maurice Taylor, who struggled throughout because of foul trouble and finished with only six points and two rebounds in 15 minutes.

The same way they had done to close the first half, the Clippers rallied late in the quarter. After Phoenix extended its lead to 79-63 on a jump shot by Shawn Respert with 2:45 remaining, the Clippers outscored the Suns, 10-1, to enter the fourth quarter trailing, 80-73.

Over the final 12 minutes, the Clippers stayed close but could not overcome Phoenix’s firepower.

“Everyone from our starting lineup played well,” Kidd said. “George McCloud did extremely well and people always talk about Gugliotta being only an offensive guy, but he had 17 rebounds. . . . Cliff Robinson also did a wonderful job defensively on Murray tonight.”

Piatkowski’s 16 points led the Clippers, who had six players score more than 10. Murray finished with 14 and Rodney Rogers, Lorenzen Wright and Martin each had 11.