Poor Closers, Clippers Caught Down Stretch

Too many Clippers wanted to make the big play and in the end, it cost them again Tuesday night.

With a golden opportunity to gain their first three-game winning streak of the season, the Clippers couldn’t close and Denver’s Nick Van Exel made them pay with a late three-point play to give the Nuggets a 109-108 victory at Pepsi Center.

Basically, the Clippers did everything right for nearly 45 minutes against the Nuggets. With Lamar Odom scoring 21 points to lead a group of six teammates scoring in double figures, the Clippers held a 106-99 lead with 3:21 to play.

Then, as they did in previous losses to Toronto, Vancouver, Utah, Phoenix, Charlotte, Miami and the Lakers, the Clippers faltered down the stretch.

“We just threw the game away . . . talk about concentration,” said point guard Jeff McInnis, who missed a three-point shot at the buzzer. “We were supposed to run certain plays at the end and we didn’t get it done.”

Even after the Clippers saw their lead cut to 106-102 with less than two minutes left, they appeared to be in good shape when McInnis made a jumper to increase the lead to six, and Odom grabbed a tough defensive rebound.

But after a Clipper timeout, rookie Keyon Dooling was called for an offensive foul on a missed dunk attempt over Denver’s Antonio McDyess. Van Exel then drove to the basket for a layup with one minute left.

On the Clippers’ next possession, Odom forced a fadeaway jumper and missed. The next time the Nuggets had the ball, McDyess scored easily to cut the Clipper lead to 108-106 with 37.3 seconds to play.

The Clippers then struggled to get off a good shot and, after a missed layup by Sean Rooks, Denver put the ball in Van Exel’s hands. With time running out, Van Exel drove to the basket and was fouled by Rooks with 4.7 seconds to play. He made the layup, and the free throw to complete the three-point play.

Against a more physical team, Van Exel probably wouldn’t get a chance to make such a shot but the Clippers do not have a Charles Oakley or Anthony Mason. Rooks seemed to have been caught off guard by Rooks.

“We needed to stop him and he was dancing with the ball,” Rooks said. “Then he was wide open and came right at me. I guess I didn’t foul him at the right time or hard enough and he made the bucket.”

For the Clippers, who dropped to 10-19, the manner in which they lost was tough to accept, considering how well they played against a team that has beaten them six times in a row at Denver.

“We have to learn to finish games,” McInnis said. “We had the lead and the ball . . . We have to take smart shots and be aggressive defensively. You can’t give up easy layups. We have to play to win and not play soft.”

The first time the Clippers played at Denver this season, the Nuggets posted an easy 95-79 victory. The Clippers misfired on 19 of 20 three-point shots and made only 33.7% of their field goals overall.

Shooting was not a problem early Tuesday. With Odom setting the pace, the Clippers made 14 of 27 shots in the first quarter.

The Clippers, however, hurt themselves with poor defensive rotations as they allowed Denver to stay in the game behind McDyess, who finished with a game-high 35 points and 12 rebounds; Raef LaFrentz, who scored eight of his 16 points on power dunks; Voshon Lenard, who made four three-point baskets and had 18 points, and Van Exel, who finished with 14 assists and 13 points.

But the Clippers still had the game under control until some bad plays down the stretch.

“We made some poor decisions, especially myself,” said Odom, who made 10 of 16 field-goals attempts to go with eight rebounds and four assists.

“Everyone wants to make the big plays but give us time, we’ll be all right.”