Another Game Ends Badly for Clippers

The Clippers had a five-point lead late in the fourth quarter Friday against the Utah Jazz. A victory and the end of a horrendous losing streak here appeared to be theirs for the taking.

Except that it wasn’t.

Poised to beat the Jazz in Salt Lake City for the first time in 25 games, the Clippers lost their momentum, their shooting touch and, eventually, the game, 106-101, before 17,942 at the Delta Center.

Utah’s John Stockton raced through the lane, dropped a layup into the basket and broke a 101-101 tie with 38.9 seconds remaining. Lamar Odom missed a 25-foot three-point attempt on the Clippers’ next possession, the Jazz rebounded and that was pretty much that.

The Clippers are 0 for 25 in Utah, dating to an April 18, 1989 victory at the Salt Palace. They are winless in 21 games at the Delta Center.

They also have lost four consecutive on the road to start this season. Plus, they have a season-high three-game losing streak.

“We’ve just got to learn to make plays at the end of the game,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said, cutting to the chase. “Once again they made plays and we didn’t. It’s still a process. You’ve got to learn to win. We played well. I liked our aggressiveness. I liked the way we played.

“But we’ve got to learn how to hold leads and we’ve got to learn how to close out games.”

The Clippers did neither against the Jazz.

Elton Brand’s runner in the lane, plus a free throw after he was fouled by Stockton, gave the Clippers a 99-94 lead with 4:41 left. Now five points isn’t 50, but the way the Clippers had been going to Brand down low, it seemed to be a fairly secure lead.

Wrong.

The Clippers (5-8) lost all semblance of forward motion, sputtering to a halt just as Stockton warmed up after getting outplayed for much of the game by Clipper point guard Jeff McInnis.

After Odom was whistled for defensive three seconds, drawing a technical foul, Stockton sank the free throw to ignite the Jazz comeback. On the ensuing possession, he made an 18-foot jump shot from the right wing.

After Odom missed a short-range shot, Donyell Marshall banked home a hook shot to tie the score at 99 with 3:47 remaining. Marshall’s layup gave the Jazz its first lead of the second half, but Eric Piatkowski tied it by making two free throws with 51.4 seconds left.

Stockton scored, Scott Padgett made three of four free throws and the Clippers got nothing, and weren’t happy about it at game’s end.

“You’ve got to win those,” Brand said. “If you want to be a good team in this league, you have to win those. Granted this is the Utah Jazz, a veteran club, and they’re very good, but you have to win these games.”

Brand was clearly superior to Utah power forward Karl Malone for long stretches, turning in yet another superb game. Brand scored a season-best 28 points by making 10 of 12 shots and eight of 10 free throws. Malone had 24 points, making seven of 15 shots and 10 of 10 free throws.

McInnis had 22 points to Stockton’s 21.

In the final analysis, the Clippers could have pinned the blame for this loss on any number of things. Utah’s eye-popping, 47-25 advantage in free throws certainly caught the Clippers’ attention.

Plus, there was the fact that they played a tight game in Thursday’s loss to the New Jersey Nets at Staples Center. The Clippers arrived at their Salt Lake City hotel at 2:30 a.m. after flying from L.A. immediately after losing to the Nets, 95-90.

But the Clippers’ inability to convert late Friday cost them a victory.

“We should have won this game,” McInnis said.

It wasn’t the first game the youthful Clippers (average age: a league-low 24.8) have let slip away this season. And it probably won’t be the last.

After all, they have lost twice in overtime, suffered a fourth-quarter collapse in which they were outscored, 37-17, in a loss against Portland and dropped close ones down the stretch to Toronto and New Jersey.

The latest defeat was simply more of the same for the Clippers, who won’t win many if they get only one basket and three free throws in the final 4:41, as they did Friday.