It Goes From Bad to Worse as Clippers Remain Winless

Darrick Martin had it. So did Michael Olowokandi, Maurice Taylor and the rest of the Clippers.

It’s a look that says something is not right. A look that whether it came from frustration or fatigue, still represented the same thing: another Clipper defeat.

For the fifth time in as many games, the Clippers again came up short as the up-and-coming Minnesota Timberwolves handed them a 95-73 defeat in front of 8,592 at the Sports Arena. The loss was the Clippers worst of the season and in front of their largest home crowd of the year.

Led by Kevin Garnett’s 24 points and 11 rebounds, and Stephon Marbury’s 13 points and nine assists, the Timberwolves improved to 4-1 as they embarrassed the Clippers, who were playing the second of back-to-back games and remain the league’s last winless team.

“I don’t think that being tired had that much to do with it,” said Clipper Lorenzen Wright about the team’s lethargic play in losing to the Timberwolves for the eighth consecutive time. “What are we going to do when we have to play back-to-back-to-back? We just didn’t come with the right mind frame tonight . . . we always go back to the same thing, shooting over double teams and stuff like that. Until we get it out of our system, nothing is going to be good for us.”

After solid efforts in their first four losses, the Clippers took a big step back against Minnesota. With no superstar player to carry them through bad times like this, the Clippers have to play together with passion or they’ll be routed like they were Sunday.

“We need to believe in one another,” said Clipper Coach Chris Ford, whose patience looks like it will be tested all season. “Good things will happen if we continue to play in the system and grow in the system.”

What makes Sunday’s effort so bad for the Clippers is that it came 24 hours after playing their best game of the season in an overtime loss at Phoenix on Saturday night. For one quarter, the Clippers played Minnesota close but they reverted to their bad habits from there.

Too many times, the Clippers stood around on offense and their lack of movement allowed the Timberwolves to take away their inside game. Rookie center Michael Olowokandi started his second consecutive game but he struggled with only six points and four rebounds in 27 minutes.

“Our offense was totally disjointed and we couldn’t get him involved,” Ford said about Olowokandi. “He continues to work hard and will only get better.”

Maurice Taylor, who had 25 points against the Suns, led the team with 19 points but on six-for-16 shooting. Lamond Murray, the team’s leading scorer, finished eight points under his average with 12 and the Clippers’ four top backcourt players (Darrick Martin, Eric Piatkowski, James Robinson and Sherman Douglas) combined for seven-for-26 shooting and 14 points.

“Tonight, the ball stopped moving, the bodies stopped moving and we were just standing around watching them double team the post,” Ford said.

“We have to find a combination of guys or a group of guys who are going to go out there and try and stay within [the system].”

Garnett is the type of player the Clippers can only dream about. He’s listed at 6 foot 11 but appears to be taller when he stands next to 6-11 teammate Dean Garrett. He started the game guarding Murray, a small forward, but looked just as comfortable guarding the post.

Garnett, who will turn 23 in May, made nine of 17 shots from the field, with many of his points coming from his soft jumper, and added three steals. But many will remember his high-flying dunks.

“I said that it might not be a lot of people in the stands but let’s make the best of it,” Garnett said. “Crowds generate energy for both home and away teams. Some away teams strive off boos and I was trying basically to turn the boos into ovation.”

Something he was able to accomplish to the Clippers’ dismay.