Gentry Longs for Continuity

There were unfamiliar sights and sounds inside the Clipper locker room after their victory Wednesday over the Miami Heat. Were those smiles on the faces of the Clipper players? And was that laughter?

“It’s been a tough year,” Coach Alvin Gentry said Thursday. “We all understand that. Everybody’s been working hard, but it’s been a disappointment from our standpoint. Forget about what everybody else thinks. We have not executed the way we can, especially down the stretch. We needed something positive to happen for us.”

Despite reports to the contrary, the Clippers are not a team on the verge of an emotional breakdown. Tensions have built among the coaches as the team has struggled to win in the face of a string of injuries, but the players remain a jovial group, particularly after a rare victory.

“We’ve lost a lot of games we shouldn’t have lost,” Gentry said, referring to recent fourth-quarter breakdowns that led to losses to the Indiana Pacers and Denver Nuggets. “We have to stay in the race, then when we do get healthy, we need to make a run and do something special. I still think this can be a very good team. We need continuity. We need the same guys playing night in and night out. For the most part, we’ve played good basketball.

“When we played Orlando at home and Portland up there, those were the only two games we were never in. We’ve been up in the fourth quarter at some stage in the game and played well enough to win all the others.

“The only thing I’ve been a little frustrated with is, as a coach, you expect to win no matter who’s hurt. You’ve got to execute and you’ve got to get the ball in the basket. You’ve got to find a way to get the ball in the basket and rebound. Those are the two things. That’s what Indiana did to us. Reggie Miller put the ball in the basket.”

And the Pacers rallied from a seven-point deficit Sunday to defeat the Clippers.

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Point guard Andre Miller sat out practice because of soreness in his sprained left ankle, a day after playing 32 minutes and scoring 13 points and adding seven assists against the Heat.

Forward Lamar Odom (ankle) and center Michael Olowokandi (knee) practiced, although the team mostly worked in a half-court setting at less than full speed. Odom is on target to play by Christmas and Olowokandi is expected to come off the injured list when he is eligible Wednesday.

Forward Corey Maggette has been undergoing daily rehabilitation exercises on his right knee. He had arthroscopic surgery to remove damaged cartilage last Friday. Maggette is expected to sit out at least another three weeks.