Clippers Let Golden State Escape Down the Stretch

It’s official. The Clippers will head into this weekend’s All-Star break on a losing note and not on a four-game winning streak.

And, they have no one to blame but themselves.

They can’t blame Golden State’s Bobby Sura, who made three free throws in the final 14.7 seconds of the Warriors’ 89-88 victory Wednesday night.

Nor can they blame official David Jones, who called a foul on Corey Maggette with 0.7 of a second left that gave Sura a chance to be a hero before 13,447 at the Arena in Oakland.

All the Clippers needed to do was look at their free-throw statistics: 26 taken, 14 missed.

“We lost the game at the foul line,” said Lamar Odom, who had 27 points and 10 rebounds. “We could never separate ourselves from them because we kept missing free throws.”

The Clippers, whose record dropped to 16-34, held a two-point lead at the start of the fourth quarter and basically matched Golden State basket for basket. There were 11 lead changes in the final quarter.

But the Warriors, who were playing without injured shooting guard Larry Hughes (sprained right thumb) and rookie forward Chris Porter (sprained left ankle), stepped up and made more plays when it counted.

Point guard Mookie Blaylock, who was in Golden State Coach Dave Cowens’ doghouse three days ago, made three huge plays in the final minutes. With the Clippers ahead, 80-79, with 2:41 left, Blaylock made a 22-foot jump shot with the shot clock running down.

Blaylock’s next big moment came with 1:01 remaining, when he scored on a driving layup around Jeff McInnis to give Golden State an 86-83 lead. Blaylock was fouled on the play but missed his free throw only to redeem himself by stealing the ball from the Clippers’ Michael Olowokandi.

It may have been questionable whether Blaylock fouled Olowokandi, but the Clippers still came back to tie. Odom made a tough basket in traffic with 20.9 seconds left. Then Sura made two free throws to give the Warriors an 88-85 lead.

“I wanted that because Sura’s free-throw average overall is not that great,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said about the Golden State guard, who had missed four of his first five free throws.

Eric Piatkowski then tied the score, 88-88, with a three-point basket with 3.2 seconds remaining. It was one of the Clippers’ best plays of the season, with Piatkowski using consecutive picks by Odom to break free above the top of the key.

“That was an excellent play called by [Gentry],” Piatkowski said. “We always run the play where I go around the top, but I doubled back really hard and they got screwed up. I was shocked when I broke free like that.”

Then came the call.

After a Golden State timeout, Sura dribbled into the left corner and attempted a desperate shot but was fouled by Maggette.

“I thought the players decided games,” Gentry said. “I really did. That’s all I’ll say about that. They’re not taking my money. I’m not giving them the opportunity to take my money. Obviously, I’m disappointed in the call.”

Added Golden State Coach Dave Cowens: “We got bailed out. Bobby made an aggressive play, and he made his free throws. . . . We’ll be happy for a few days.”

The Clippers didn’t help their cause by allowing Golden State to grab 20 offensive rebounds. Antawn Jamison, who led the Warriors with 27 points, pulled down seven of his nine rebounds on offense. Another player who hurt the Clippers was former Laker Corie Blount, who had 10 rebounds, including five on offense, in 18 minutes.

“We had every opportunity to win,” Piatkowski said. “[The Clippers’ free-throw shooting is] embarrassing. We could put our wives out there and they could shoot better than that.

“It would have been great to go into overtime. It would have been interesting to see.”