Seven-Game Stretch Presents a Test

Starting tonight at Denver, the Clippers will play their next seven games against teams .500 or above.

“We have to keep finding a way to play against the better teams,” said Coach Alvin Gentry, whose team has won two games in a row and is 10-18. “But we can’t lose focus on what we are trying to do long-term.”

In the Nuggets, the Clippers face a team that has had their number. Denver has won eight of the last nine games between the teams, including a 16-point victory at Pepsi Center on Nov. 12.

For the Clippers, shooting has been a problem against the Nuggets. They made only 33.7% of their shots, including only one of 20 three-pointers when the teams met last month.

“We can’t worry about the last time we played there,” said Lamar Odom, who had only 10 points in the first meeting. “We just haven’t played good against them.”

To Gentry, the Clipper game plan is simple: “It is important for us to make shots and be ready to play. We just fell apart after the first quarter when we played them before.”

*

Power forward Brian Skinner and Gentry had a private talk before the Clippers’ victory over Vancouver last Saturday. Skinner responded with his best game in weeks, scoring 11 of his 13 points in the first quarter and grabbing five rebounds.

“He voiced some concerns and I did the same,” Gentry said about Skinner, who had a career-high 23 points when the Clippers played at Denver last month. “I think Brian had a little misunderstanding of what I wanted from him. But after we talked it out, he understood that I want him to be aggressive, and if he had scoring opportunities to take them and go strong.”

TONIGHT

at Denver, 6 PST

Fox Sports Net 2

* Site--Pepsi Center.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Clippers 10-18, Nuggets 14-14.

* Record vs. Nuggets--0-1.

* Update--Denver’s Antonio McDyess has owned the Clippers, averaging 25.6 points and 11.8 rebounds over the last five games between the teams. The Clippers have lost five in a row at Denver.