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Old Problems Still Haunting the Clippers

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

Different day, same Clipper story.

Turnovers, missed free throws and poor field-goal shooting resulted in another loss for the Clippers Sunday afternoon, this time, 96-87, to the Boston Celtics before 13,583 at FleetCenter.

“It’s not like we are not playing hard,” Lamar Odom said afterward.

“I’m hurting after every game. I know I’m giving it my all, running all around the floor trying to make things happen . . . I just hope that hard work pays off.”

If it doesn’t, it’s going to be a long season for the Clippers, who have lost two consecutive games and dropped to 5-13.

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The Clippers certainly have perfected defeating themselves. Against the Celtics, they turned the ball over 21 times, missed four key free throws in the fourth quarter and shot only 37.5% for the game.

So despite heading into this six-game trip on a high note, following a blowout victory over Golden State, the Clippers are 0-2 after two games. They suffered a tough overtime defeat at Toronto on Friday after blowing a nine-point lead in the final 1:22 of regulation.

“We just couldn’t score [against Boston] . . . our intensity was there,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “I thought we did a good job of forgetting about the other night in Toronto and just going out and playing.

“[Friday’s loss] was really kind of a devastating thing. I think our guys have shown that they can forget about something like that, then come back and play hard. But obviously we have to find a way to win a couple of games.”

Losing to the Celtics, even on the road, is definitely not something to be proud of. Much like the Raptors, who played the Clippers without Vince Carter and Charles Oakley, Boston was forced to play short-handed.

With veteran point guard Kenny Anderson on the injured list because of a fractured jaw, the Celtics were ready for the taking. But unlike their effort at Toronto, which saw them lead for most of the game, the Clippers started slowly on Sunday.

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In an effort to get more offense early, Gentry started rookie Darius Miles at power forward in place of Derek Strong. It didn’t work.

The Clippers missed 16 of their first 23 shots and fell behind by seven points after one quarter. They didn’t do much better in the second quarter as they missed nine of 15 shots and turned the ball over eight times to help Boston to a 54-39 lead.

High-scoring forwards Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker did most of the damage for the Celtics. Taking advantage of poor on-the-ball defense by the Clippers, Pierce scored 16 of his game-high 25 points in the first half and Walker had 12 of his 17.

The Clippers tried to rally at the start of the second half but instead found themselves down, 69-50, with 2:48 remaining in the third quarter. That’s when they finally began to play.

Over the next seven minutes, they outscored Boston, 20-8, to make things interesting. Odom, who missed 11 of his first 12 shots, got into the offensive flow to finish with a team-high 19 points.

Because it’s no secret that the Clippers rely on Odom to lead them, the Celtics were determined not to let him beat them. Every time he touched the ball, Odom found two or three Boston players in his face. This tactic worked until the Clippers spread their offense and allowed Odom to work on the perimeter.

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“I’m disappointed but the key for us is to continue to keep trying to do the right thing,” Gentry said. “We didn’t want Paul Pierce and Antoine Walker to have big games. We kind of did that but what you have to give them credit for is that guys like Randy Brown stepped up and made jump shots.”

Starting in place of Anderson, Brown made five of six field goals but he wasn’t the only Celtic role player to hurt the Clippers. Shooting guard Bryant Stith stepped up with 18 points, including two key three-pointers in the first half, and backup point guard Doug Overton scored six of his eight points in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t afford to get into a skid,” Walker said about the Celtics. “So it was important for us to get this win. [The Clippers] can beat anyone in any given game.”

Which may be true, but for now, the Clippers can’t seem to to beat teams when things get tight.

“We’re still trying to learn how to win,” Odom said. “[Losing at Toronto on Friday] emotionally may have taken a little bit out of us and physically, it may have fatigued us too. But the only thing we can do is keep our heads up and play hard.”

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