Defense Takes a Vacation

No team in the league gives up scoring runs like the Clippers.

Such was the case Friday night against the Charlotte Hornets, when they were outscored, 69-32, in the final 21 minutes of a 118-101 loss.

Interim Coach Jim Todd cringes when he thinks about the rallies the Clippers have given up.

“We can see it on [the players’] faces, it is something we have to go through,” Todd said. “We have to mature as a group. That’s the biggest problem that they face and that is staying together against adversity.”

Clipper coaches have tried almost everything in an attempt to slow opponents’ charges, but nothing has worked.

“In some games, we’ve called so many timeouts and it didn’t help,” Todd said. “We ended up not even having a timeout at the end of games because we called so many.”

TONIGHT

at Golden State, 6, Channel 9

* Site--The Arena in Oakland.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Clippers 12-50, Warriors 16-45.

* Record vs. Warriors--2-1.

* Update--The Clippers have a chance to win a series against a Western Conference opponent for the first time since winning three of four games against Golden State, Sacramento and Dallas two seasons ago.