At End of Road for Clippers Is a Humbling Loss

Talk about an uphill battle.

The slumping Clippers concluded a four-game trip Saturday night against the rested Utah Jazz, a team that had never lost to L.A. at the Delta Center.

The result? You guessed it, the Clippers’ fourth loss in a row.

Ageless power forward Karl Malone had 24 points and seven rebounds, and Bryon Russell and Jeff Hornacek each scored 17 to lead the Jazz to a 112-75 rout of the Clippers before 19,911.

The Clippers dropped to 0-21 at the Delta Center, including 0-4 in playoff games. The last time the Clippers won in Utah was April 18, 1989, when the Jazz played at the Salt Palace.

“The first half they hung in there with us a little bit,” said Utah’s Jerry Sloan, who won his 700th game as an NBA coach, joining 12 others who have accomplished the feat.

“In the second half I thought we moved the basketball and got ourselves a couple of easy baskets. . . . They looked like they were a little bit tired because they were at the end of a four-game road trip.”

The Clippers (10-26), who were led by 18 points apiece from center Michael Olowokandi and guard Derek Anderson, have lost eight of nine and have not won a road game since defeating Golden State on Dec. 22.

Utah held a 56-36 rebounding edge, with recent free-agent acquisition Armen Gilliam grabbing a team-high 12 off the bench. The Clippers have been outrebounded, 104-65, in their last two games.

“You cannot replace experience,” Anderson said of the Jazz. “Hornacek couldn’t guard me all night but his experience got himself open shots. . . . His experience just outdid me tonight.”

After three impressive games, rookie Lamar Odom struggled and finished with 10 points on three-of-14 shooting.

“I went from chasing Bryon Russell and all he wants to do is run the floor to banging with Karl Malone,” said Odom, who had four turnovers. “I was tired.”

Odom said he noticed the Clippers’ lack of concentration before the opening tip.

“A couple of people from the team called it out from the layup line,” he said. “Maybe as players individually we were ready, but [not] as a team all around. . . . We weren’t ready to come out and play this game tonight.”

Utah (24-11), aware that the Clippers were at the end of the trip, tried to run as much as possible. Big men like Malone and center Greg Ostertag had success beating Clippers down the floor for easy baskets.

“In the third and fourth quarters, we didn’t have anything,” Clipper Coach Chris Ford said. “They were scoring at will. . . . they outran us in transition.”

The Clippers made a game of it in the first half. Utah had an 11-point lead midway through the first quarter. Troy Hudson and Anderson, however, led a 10-0 Clipper rally and the Jazz needed a three-point basket from Russell to finish the quarter tied at 28.

The Clippers took their last lead on a three-point shot by Odom to start the second quarter, but Utah put together a 14-2 run and the Clippers were finished.

“As the years go by, you try and get them over quicker,” said Hornacek, who made eight of 13 shots in 24 minutes. Russell was the only Jazz starter to play more than 27 minutes.

The Clippers’ play in the second half was as bad as it gets. They made only 13 of 35 shots and scored 11 points in the fourth quarter.

For Sloan, victory No. 700 wasn’t anything special, and he wasn’t saying that because it came against the Clippers.

“I just wish they didn’t have numbers like that,” Sloan said. “I think it would be better if they just put your name at the bottom of the list each year because the players are the ones that win the games anyway, so it really doesn’t make any difference to me one way or the other. I’m just lucky to have a job.”