Clippers Have Their Moments but Lose

Alvin Gentry accepted all the compliments for his new furniture as he welcomed the media into his office Saturday evening, then said it was a reflection of how things are in Clipper Country this season.

“We’re movin’ on up,” Gentry said. “Good times.”

OK, so the Clipper coach mixed and matched his 1970s sitcoms. Maybe that’s because the Clippers are still trying to make the transition from staying in the projects with J.J. and Bookman to living in the deluxe apartment in the sky next to the Jeffersons.

Three games into the new season, and the Clippers are still searching for that essential first step toward making the playoffs: a victory.

As Florida Evans would say, “Damn, damn , damn!”

The Clippers lost 10 of their 13 overtime games last season. Should the Clippers play that many OT games this year--and they’re sure on pace for it--even a 7-6 record would help them pick up a third of the victories they need to get to playoff contention.

But after Saturday night’s overtime loss to the lowly Golden State Warriors, they’re already 0-2 in extra minutes. Maybe they should join the NHL, so at least they’d have something to show for it.

Throughout a game they should have locked up early, the Clippers gave off some bad indications.

It’s not cool to let a 10-2 lead dissipate into a 29-28 deficit at the end of the first quarter. And it’s never a good idea to give up 29-point quarters to the Warriors.

One of their biggest problems last season was giving up too many offensive rebounds. It happened again Saturday. And in one late stretch, the Warriors had five shots and a free throw before the Clippers regained possession.

They had a nine-point lead in the fourth quarter, but they closed like Byung-Hyun Kim.

Then Lamar Odom went the entire fourth quarter without scoring.

Maybe they’ll learn that when you let teams stick around, funky things happen. Like Chris Mills’ stumbling, awkward shot that banked in, drew a foul and got the Warriors a three-point play in overtime.

They’re going to have to work a little harder to justify all of this newfound Clipper Love, which included an opening night sellout crowd of 19,445.

No one said it would be easy. And if anyone did, it sure wasn’t Gentry.

He spends a lot of time downgrading the Clippers’ stock, in part because he knows that when results don’t meet expectations the coach usually goes.

“I don’t know who all of a sudden made us this great team,” Gentry said. “We’ve still got to play well to win. We’re not the other team that plays in this building.”

Gentry’s immediate concern is getting these guys on the court. He said Saturday that the solution is actually to shorten the rotation. If he plays 10 guys, then it’s likely that Odom and Elton Brand will be the only two happy with their minutes.

If he uses seven players, at least the bulk of those seven will be content.

But how do you say no to Quentin Richardson or Corey Maggette or Keyon Dooling when every time they come in they make things happen? You don’t. Say goodbye instead and start talking trade.

The Clippers need another shooter besides Eric Piatkowski. (Orlando’s Pat Garrity, perhaps?). But they also have a couple of decisions they need to make now while they have a surplus of talent instead of operating from a need to fill positions, as could be the case next summer.

Center Michael Olowokandi and point guard Jeff McInnis will be free agents.

McInnis keeps doing all that’s asked of him. And for all of the frustrations Olowokandi causes, the Clippers aren’t going to be able get their hands on a better center.

Ideally they would bring both back.

Actually, if it comes down to one position they have to fill, it should be point guard. Most of the great centers are on the way out. The one who dominates the landscape, Shaquille O’Neal, is so unstoppable that it’s really pointless trying to come up with one person to guard him.

But on nights when the best center the opponent can put on the floor is a guy like Dampier, the Clippers can get away with playing Brand in the middle and Darius Miles at power forward.

Don’t expect the Clippers to take on a big contract, such as Gary Payton’s, because they’re trying to save for the Odom/Brand fund.

It was interesting that Gentry had Richardson and Dooling in during the fourth quarter against Golden State. They weren’t expendable Saturday.

*

J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com.