Clippers Return to Earth With Loss to Pacers

You knew it was too good to be true.

With a chance to defeat the defending NBA champions and last season’s runner-ups in consecutive nights, the Clippers blew a late lead and lost to the Indiana Pacers, 85-82, Monday before 11,964 at Staples Center.

After ending a 16-game losing streak to the Lakers on Sunday, the Clippers started flat Monday and fell behind by 16 points, then rallied to hold a seven-point lead with 4:15 remaining.

But they failed to make the key shots or grab the important rebounds down the stretch to lose for the sixth time in eight games.

“Even though we got off to such a good start, we didn’t think that was indicative of the way [the Clippers] have been playing,” Indiana Coach Isiah Thomas said. “We figured they were going to make a run because they had played so well [Sunday night].

“They came back, took control of the game and we just wanted to hang around and give ourselves a chance.”

Which is exactly what the Pacers did. Behind veterans Reggie Miller, Jalen Rose and Austin Croshere, Indiana wiped away the Clippers’ late lead behind deadly outside shooting and timely offensive rebounds.

The key for the Pacers was their ability to keep possession of the ball with offensive rebounds from Jermaine O’Neal (15 points, 12 rebounds and six blocked shots) and Travis Best in the game’s final 90 seconds.

The Clippers had a final opportunity to send the game into overtime, but Lamar Odom’s desperation, double-pump, three-point attempt was off the mark at the buzzer.

“We gave a great effort after the start of the game,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “It’s just one of those things where we couldn’t finish it off.”

Point guard Jeff McInnis led the Clippers with 17 points and seven assists. Odom, who played 33 minutes despite re-injuring his left wrist, finished with 13 points and seven rebounds.

The Clippers didn’t help themselves by shooting only 39.5% from the field. Odom made four of 19, Eric Piatkowski made three of 10 and Earl Boykins, Corey Maggette and Darius Miles combined to shoot seven of 22.

Even though Indiana is in the middle of a six-game trip, the Pacers were rested and ready for the Clippers, who seemed tired from their win over the Lakers the night before.

Indiana had not played since an overtime victory at Sacramento on Friday and the Pacers took advantage of the Clippers’ sluggishness early.

As they are known to do, the Clippers opened Monday’s game with a scoring drought. After scoring 118 points against the Lakers, the Clippers could not buy a basket in the first quarter. They trailed, 27-15, after 12 minutes.

The Pacers extended their lead to 39-23 before the Clippers began to play. Gentry tried to send a statement to his players when he took out all five starters at the same time in the first quarter, but it took Odom’s challenge during a second-quarter timeout to wake them up.

Over a stretch of nearly four-minutes, the Clippers dominated the Pacers with a 14-0 run. Michael Olowokandi and Odom combined for eight points, but it was Miles who really gave Indiana fits.

Since moving to power forward last month, Miles has done well against bigger players by using his athletic ability. It’s not unusual for him to grab a defensive rebound and lead a fastbreak. It’s the best way for him to get room to work.

“I’ve been getting a lot of abuse. There are some big boys [playing power forward in the league],” Miles said. “The pushing and shoving is tough.”

Thanks to Miles’ 10 points and seven rebounds, the Clippers trailed, 46-43, at halftime despite shooting only 41.9% compared to Indiana’s 54.3%.

“Sometimes when you are a little bit tired, it takes a while to get going because you are not fresh at the start,” Olowokandi said. “We got back into the game by playing defense. This was a game we really thought we were going to win.”

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