Clippers Still Broken After Break

Jim Todd is quickly learning that being a substitute Clipper coach is a lot different from being an interim coach.

When Todd filled in for Chris Ford for two games in late December, he coached the Clippers to victories in both games. Now that he’s officially in charge, the Clippers haven’t won.

It was Miami’s turn to beat up on the Clippers on Tuesday night and the Heat did it with ease, 107-88, before 15,703 at American Airlines Arena.

The Clippers (11-39), who played without rookie forward Lamar Odom and second-year swingman Tyrone Nesby because of injuries, have lost seven in a row and 21 of their last 23.

“I’d like to have that [first official win] real soon,” said Todd, who dropped to 0-5 since replacing Ford on Feb. 3.

“Those [two wins in December] count in my book. They may not in the NBA record book, but I’m counting them.”

At least Todd hasn’t lost his sense of humor.

“It’s not going to get any easier either,” veteran point guard Eric Murdock said about the Clipper winless streak under Todd.

“Like tonight, we’re playing some teams who are fighting for a playoff spot and positioning. They are looking at their schedule, looking at us as a must-win. They want to come out and get it over as quickly as possible.”

Starting with tonight’s game at Orlando, the Clippers have six games remaining in their longest trip of the season. After the Magic, they will play at Charlotte, Chicago, New York, Philadelphia and Minnesota before returning to Los Angeles.

“This is a tough position for [Todd],” Murdock said. “It’s not like he had the team at the beginning of the year. We’re making adjustments on the fly. Right now, it seems that we have two people doing one thing and three people doing another thing. We have to somehow get on the same page.”

Because of the absence of Odom and Nesby, who both are questionable for tonight’s game at Orlando, the Clippers could not afford to leave their thinking caps in the locker room. But that’s what they did against Miami (31-17), one of the best teams in the Eastern Conference.

Miami center Alonzo Mourning had his usual dominant game against the Clippers with 20 points, 13 rebounds and eight blocked shots. Mourning made seven of 12 shots from the field and even added four assists.

Small forward Jamal Mashburn also had a big game with 26 points and eight rebounds for the Heat, who crushed the Clippers inside by outrebounding them, 63-37.

“I don’t think the game was ever in doubt,” Miami Coach Pat Riley said.

“We played as well as we had to play to win. We did a lot of great things in the game. We did well on the boards and ran the floor hard.”

The Clippers didn’t seem to have a chance, even when they made a mini-run halfway into the second quarter.

After trailing, 30-26, after one period, the Clippers played Miami’s second unit relatively even for the first five minutes of the second quarter.

The turning point came when the Clippers had a chance to cut Miami’s lead to two points on a three-on-one fastbreak. Instead of getting an easy basket, the Clippers ended up with a turnover when center Michael Olowokandi fumbled Troy Hudson’s lob pass. Seconds later, Mourning slammed home an uncontested dunk for a four-point turnaround.

Miami never looked back. The Heat responded to Olowokandi’s miscue with an 18-4 run to close the half with a 59-44 lead.

So as they have in so many games before, the Clippers played well for a while and then stopped doing whatever kept them close.

“I don’t think it’s our conditioning,” shooting guard Derek Anderson said. “I think it’s our understanding [of what Todd] is trying to do. You can work hard all day, but if you are doing the wrong things, you are going to still have problems.”

The Clippers shot only 38.4% from the field and 69.2% from the free-throw line. Eric Piatkowski and Murdock each scored 15 points to lead the team in scoring.