This Has Baylor at Loss for Words

Elgin Baylor, vice president of basketball operations, made the trip to Phoenix for Wednesday night’s embarrassing 46-point loss to the Suns and he didn’t have too many words.

Baylor, who has been with the Clippers since 1986, has seen more than his share of franchise defeats, but this season’s team has been a major disappointment.

“No one is happy,” Baylor said about the Clippers, who dropped to 11-34. “No one can be happy with our record and the way we’re playing. That’s all I have to say.”

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With the Clippers buried near the bottom of the NBA standings, Coach Chris Ford knows they are not playing to their potential.

After his players said they were not prepared for Tuesday’s lopsided loss to Golden State, Ford and his staff’s game plan for the Suns was to get the ball inside as much as possible.

“Tonight, it just wasn’t there,” Ford said. “The game plan was to not settle for jump shots and [everyone] witnessed how many jump shots we took throughout the game. You can just go right around the horn.”

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Shooting guard Eric Piatkowski, who has been with the Clippers longer than any other player on the current roster, came off the bench to score 10 points against Phoenix on three-of-six shooting from the floor.

Piatkowski has been around for plenty of losses in his six seasons with the Clippers and he was shocked by the team’s effort--or lack of--against the Suns.

“This is starting to be a bad habit of ours,” Piatkowski said. “We aren’t playing together. No intensity out on the floor. Guys are playing with no heart on the team. It’s very frustrating right now.”

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Clipper forward Brian Skinner, who played Tuesday after being taken off the injured list because of an ankle sprain, did not dress against the Suns. Skinner said he still experienced some pain and discomfort. . . . Phoenix point guard Jason Kidd did not have one of his better statistical games against the Clippers, finishing with 12 points, eight assists and five rebounds. Kidd didn’t complain about his numbers after the game but he felt for the struggling Clippers. “It’s tough for them right now, but they have to fight through it,” Kidd said. “All you can do is play hard and that’s all they can do for [Ford], who is looking for answers. I can’t tell you whether they are still playing hard or not.”