Youth Shows in Jittery Loss

Having the league’s youngest team will have its drawbacks this season for the Clippers, and Wednesday night they displayed almost all of them.

Playing like a team with a heavy case of stage fright for the first basketball game played at Staples Center, the Clippers were dominated in the second half by the Milwaukee Bucks and lost, 109-96.

A modest but noisy crowd of 9,448 watched the Clippers hang tough for one half, but Milwaukee broke open the game with a 31-18 third quarter.

“It’s disappointing that we were not able to sustain what we were doing in the first half,” Coach Chris Ford said about his team which trailed, 54-53, at the break.

“We’re a young team that hasn’t been together that long . . . [Milwaukee] applied pressure that good teams do . . . Hopefully, it will be a learning experience for us.”

The Clippers had 21 turnovers compared to only nine for the Bucks.

Sam Cassell had 18 second-half points and finished with a team-high 25 for the Bucks, who played without Glenn Robinson, who was held out by Coach George Karl. Ray Allen added 22 points and Danny Manning came off the bench for 17 for Milwaukee, which scored 18 points off Clipper turnovers.

Point guard Troy Hudson kept the final score close with 25 points and Maurice Taylor, Derek Anderson and Lamar Odom each finished with 14 but for the most part the Clippers misfired in their new home debut.

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After playing in the rundown Sports Arena for 15 seasons, the Clippers gave good reviews to Staples Center but many of the players said they would have liked to have practiced on the floor before Wednesday’s game.

“I really like [Staples Center],” Anderson said. “But I wish we could practice on here more.”

Because the Kings and Lakers also share the facility, workouts there will be minimal this season for the Clippers.

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Small forward Tyrone Nesby did not play against the Bucks because of personal reasons but he is expected to play Friday against the Golden State Warriors at Staples Center. . . . Former Laker coach Del Harris attended the game and received a small ovation when he was shown on the vision screen.