Clippers Getting Even Worse

If you’re near an NBA arena and notice a foul odor, the Clippers must be in town.

The team completed arguably the worst set of back-to-back games in NBA history with a 114-68 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday night before 18,421 at America West Arena.

Fresh off a 31-point loss to the lowly Golden State Warriors on Tuesday, the Clippers played without rookie Lamar Odom (flu symptoms) and took their game to a new low by matching the franchise all-time low for points in a game.

The Clippers (11-34) have lost consecutive games over the last two nights by a combined total of 77 points and they have lost 16 of their last 18 games.

“This is pretty bad,” Coach Chris Ford said about the current atmosphere around the Clippers.

“Feeling sorry for yourself doesn’t help. If you have to get mad, you should take it out on the opposition.”

Against Phoenix (26-18), the Clippers shot 29.5% from the floor, committed 21 turnovers and were outscored inside by the Suns, 72-18.

“This is embarrassing to everybody,” veteran point guard Eric Murdock said. “It’s embarrassing to us. To our families. To the organization . . . This is totally embarrassing. We talk about some things, but our execution on the court is totally different. We came in with a better game plan [than against Golden State] and I thought the guys were ready.

“We’re not even playing college-level basketball. We’re not executing. We’re not running good sets where everybody is involved. . . . It’s hard to call because we can do it one game but can’t the next.”

The Clippers have all the ingredients of a team falling apart.

For most of their losses this season, they’ve played hard and lost games in the second half. Not Wednesday night, when they played basically three quarters of garbage time.

With Odom sidelined and three of his starters already in foul trouble, Ford was forced to go with a makeshift lineup with the Clippers down 19 points four minutes into the second quarter.

On the floor, the Clippers had a lineup of Tyrone Nesby, Anthony Avent and Keith Closs in the frontcourt and Troy Hudson and Eric Piatkowski in the backcourt.

Three minutes later, the Clippers trailed by 25.

“We can go two ways, up or down,” shooting guard Derek Anderson said. “We played a good team, but we didn’t play our game. . . . We didn’t play basketball tonight, we played pick-up and it showed.

“The Suns are good but they are not a 46-point better team than [the Clippers]. We shouldn’t have gotten beat like that. There’s no excuse.”

For any other NBA franchise, going through a losing stretch like this one would be a disaster. Heads would roll, people would get fired and fans would be booing at the next home game.

Losing, however, is commonplace with the Clippers, who have made the playoffs only three times in 18 seasons under owner Donald Sterling.

Players try to overlook the team’s poor history, but 46-point losses can bring anyone down.

“It wasn’t a good effort at all from the start,” Hudson said. “With a team like the Suns who like to run, you can not come out flat. You have to be ready to get up and down the floor.

“I don’t think it was a carry-over from Tuesday’s loss. Everyone was positive all day today. . . . We try to take one game at a time, but it keeps happening to us.”

Phoenix forward Cliff Robinson’s 21 points led seven Suns in double figures. Nesby scored 17 points to lead the Clippers.

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Clippers’ Bad Points

The Clippers (11-34) have lost 11 games by at least 20 points this season, and three by more than 30:

NOVEMBER

Opponent, Score Deficit

at Portland, 121-98 23

at Vancouver, 109-89 20

DECEMBER

at Detroit, 107-83 24

at Lakers, 95-68 27

at Denver, 128-105 23

at Houston, 122-100 22

JANUARY

Lakers, 122-98 24

at Utah, 112-75 37

at San Antonio, 105-82 23

FEBRUARY

Golden State, 107-76 31

at Phoenix, 114-68 46

UNDER CHRIS FORD

Clippers’ record under Coach Phil Ford, who had previous stints with Milwaukee and Boston. He has made the playoffs in only one of his last five seasons behind the bench:

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Year Record Pct. 1999 9-41 .180 1999-2000 11-34 .244 Total 20-75 .210

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