Odom-eter Is Running

Having an abundance of talent does not mean a thing in the NBA unless you play as a team and make an effort on the defensive end.

This season’s Clippers may have more skill but they turned in a dud Tuesday night in their Staples Center regular-season debut.

Rookie Lamar Odom came ready to play but many of his teammates failed to step up when the lights came on as the Seattle SuperSonics opened the season with a 104-92 victory in front of 17,847, just short of the 18,964 capacity.

With Maurice Taylor fouling out in only 26 minutes, finishing with 14 points and only two rebounds, Odom became the man as he carried the Clippers with 30 points, 12 rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and two steals.

“I’m not worried about Lamar Odom’s performance, I’m worried about the Clippers’ performance,” Odom said. “It’s about the team right now. I would take a bad game and a win any day.”

Seattle’s one-two punch of Gary Payton and Vin Baker led like the veterans they are. Payton had 22 points, 13 assists and six rebounds, and Baker had 17 points and 11 rebounds.

However, it was the scoring of veteran guard Vernon Maxwell off the bench that crushed the Clippers.

Maxwell, a free-agent pickup from Sacramento, had a team-high 29 points, including nine of nine from the free-throw line. The Clippers could not guard Maxwell all night and they displayed the same defensive lapses they had during the exhibition season.

“The same [breakdowns], the exact same ones,” Derek Anderson, who had 19 points and three assists, said of the Clippers’ defensive and rebounding woes.

With a lineup of Michael Olowokandi at center, Eric Murdock and Anderson at guards, Odom and Taylor at forwards, the Clippers came out the gate strong.

Former Laker Ruben Patterson started at small forward for Seattle, so the Clippers figured to have an edge with him facing Odom.

But Patterson, who at 6 feet 5 is five inches shorter than Odom, did not follow the plan, especially in the first quarter. Patterson played all 12 minutes and hurt the Clippers with nine points and five rebounds. He would finish with 12 points and nine rebounds.

Patterson would not have been so effective if the Clippers had boxed out better on the defensive end. Four of Patterson’s first-quarter rebounds were offensive.

Taylor kept the Clippers close with six points and two blocked shots as they trailed, 25-22, after the first quarter. He scored six more points in the second quarter but he also picked up three fouls, giving him four at halftime.

Thanks to sloppy defensive rotation by the Clippers’ traps, Seattle took command in the second quarter behind Maxwell, who came off the bench for 18 points in the period.

It didn’t matter who the Clippers assigned to guard him, Maxwell had his way. He made four of six shots from the field and all eight free throws to help Seattle outscore the Clippers, 37-26, in the quarter to take a 62-48 halftime lead.

“He was just going to the hole,” Clipper swingman Tyrone Nesby said of the 34-year old Maxwell. “He was just catching it and going hard to the rack. He surprised me.”

The Clippers started the second half with Brian Skinner at power forward in place of Taylor and Seattle stretched its 14-point lead to 18 before Odom led a comeback.

Shaking off any early jitters he may have had, Odom stepped up by making five of seven shots and scored 12 points in the quarter, but Seattle still led, 88-75, after three.

Odom tried to get the Clippers closer down the stretch but he didn’t help the cause when he missed seven of 15 free throws.

“Lamar is going to give effort every single night,” Clipper Coach Chris Ford said. “He made some mistakes but he plays hard.”

For Taylor, it was a disappointing game on a night he hoped to make a great impression in the team’s new arena.

“With the new rules, I have to be more disciplined,” said Taylor, who made seven of 13 shots from the field. “I have to know what things I can do and what I can’t do . . . it was a bad game all around for us. I put a lot of weight on me because I didn’t get it done.”

The Clippers do not get much time to regroup because tonight they play at Portland against a Trail Blazer team that is considered by many the team to beat in the Western Conference.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

HOME OPENER NUMBERS

17,847: Attendance, ranked sixth on opening night

7-9: Clippers’ record in season openers since team moved to Los Angeles before the 1984-85 season

9-7: Clippers’ record in home openers since team moved to Los Aangeles

4-6: Clippers’ record in season openers in the ‘90s

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HIGH SCORERS

30: Lamar Odom, Clippers

29: Vernon Maxwell, Seattle

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HIGH REBOUNDERS

16: M. Olowokandi, Clippers

13: Horace Grant, Seattle