Some Things Never Change

Unlike some coaches who make hollow threats of changes when things go bad, Clipper Coach Chris Ford lived up to his Tuesday night.

With his team steadily closing in on the league’s all-time worst start of a season, Ford turned to his bench.

And it almost worked.

However, thanks to nine blocked shots by 7-foot-6 Shawn Bradley and a 19-point, 12-rebound, season-best effort from ageless A.C. Green, the Dallas Mavericks handed the Clippers their 13th consecutive defeat, 112-99, before 13,492 at Reunion Arena.

But at least the Clippers went down fighting, which is something they failed to do in their previous three blowout defeats.

The Clippers are within three losses of tying their franchise record of 16 in a row and four from Miami’s NBA mark.

Ford played starters Eric Piatkowski and Lamond Murray only 14 and 15 minutes, respectively. In their place, Ford went with Tyrone Nesby and Charles Smith, two players who at the start of training camp were not expected to make an impact this year.

“They’ve earned their playing time and now some of the other guys are going to have to earn their playing time back,” said Ford, who also gave plenty of minutes to Rodney Rogers and James Robinson off the bench.

“The energy that these kids provided is what I want. I tried every which way I can to get it across. If they don’t realize it by now, the younger guys will play . . . as long as they go out and bust their tail.”

Maurice Taylor, who had sat out the last two games because of a knee sprain, returned and led the Clippers with 18 points and 14 rebounds--his third double-double of the year. Darrick Martin led a group of four reserves, who all scored more than 12 points, with 14.

“We knew we were giving the starters of the game some rest . . . we were just trying to make something happen,” said Rogers, who had 13 points, seven rebounds and three assists in 32 minutes.

The Clippers got off to their customary slow start, falling behind by 20 points midway into the first quarter. But they got back into the game, thanks to some strong play from Rogers and rookie forward Brian Skinner, who combined to score the team’s final 12 points in the quarter to help cut the Mavericks’ lead to 38-24 going into the second quarter.

With a lineup of Sherman Douglas, Nesby, Rogers, Taylor and Robinson, the Clippers stretched their rally into a 19-3 run and found themselves down by only 39-36 early in the second quarter. Dallas then opened up an 11-point lead before the Clippers finished the half strong, trailing, 53-48, at the end of two quarters.

But after holding Dallas to only 15 points in the second quarter, the Clippers went back to their defenseless ways in the third and were outscored, 29-21, with Bradley doing most of the damage with five of his blocked shots.

“He just stood there with that hand up and we continued to challenge him--for what reason, I don’t know,” Ford said about Bradley, who added 10 points and seven rebounds. “I think it has been well documented that he can stand up there and just put his hands over his head and you can do all kinds of moves, but that hand is still going to be there when you go to release the ball.”

The Clippers made a couple of charges in the fourth quarter, but Dallas had too much balance as six players scored in double-figures, led by Michael Finley’s 20 points. The Mavericks’ top player, however, was Green, 35, who played his best game of the season.

“Tonight, we give the game ball to A.C. Green. What a tremendous game he played,” Dallas Coach Don Nelson said. “The third quarter was a big quarter for us and [Green] was really the main factor.”

Ford said to expect more changes for the Clippers’ next game Thursday at Houston as they try to stay out of the record books.

“There comes a point in time where you have to reward the guys who want to go out there and get after it,” Ford said. “I have a very short-term memory. Nobody stays in the doghouse if they want to get out of it. All they have to do is do it my way now.”