A Loss Is the Bottom Line

So what if the Clippers didn’t have their best player available for Sunday’s game against the Boston Celtics. So what if they also didn’t have their second-best player. Or their top backup point guard.

And big deal if they played Saturday night in Atlanta against the Hawks and didn’t arrive at their Boston hotel until 2 a.m.

Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry loathes excuses. He wasn’t about to bemoan the rash of injuries that has swept through his team this season. He refused to wail about the difficulties of NBA travel.

The bottom line was that the Clippers lost to the Celtics, 104-91, before an announced crowd of 15,025 at the FleetCenter. Rather than blame injuries or fatigue for the loss, Gentry praised the Celtics.

“We got outplayed,” he said after the Clippers lost their second game in less than 24 hours to drop to 24-25 overall and 2-3 on this season-high seven-game trip. “We had no answers for Antoine Walker and Paul Pierce.”

Walker scored 27 points and Pierce had 24 for Boston. Michael Olowokandi led the Clippers with 27 points and 15 rebounds.

There was no question that it would have been a different game if the Clippers had Elton Brand at power forward, Lamar Odom at small forward and Keyon Dooling backing up point guard Jeff McInnis.

But they weren’t available because of injuries.

Brand sat out for the first time this season because of a bruised left hip. Odom will be sidelined at least another month because of a sprained right wrist. Dooling has been out since Nov. 14 because of a sprained ankle.

The Clippers soldiered on without them, welcoming the return of swingman Corey Maggette from a two-game absence because of a strained left knee. Maggette had 12 points and six rebounds in 32 minutes.

The Clippers made a game of it for three quarters before falling to the fresher, hungrier Celtics. Boston’s victory ended a three-game losing streak. In the final analysis, the Clippers needed to be nearly flawless and they were not after chasing Walker and Pierce around the parquet floor all afternoon.

Pressed about missing Brand, who is said to be day to day, Gentry said, “Obviously, we missed the guy. It’s not an excuse. If we have enough bodies to line up and play, then we’ll line up and play. Obviously, Elton is an important guy for us. He’s our leading scorer and rebounder.”

Brand, averaging 18.9 points and 11.2 rebounds, injured himself earlier in the season while diving for a loose ball. He aggravated the injury by doing the same thing in the Clippers’ victory Thursday at San Antonio.

He warmed up before Sunday’s game but decided against playing because “the explosiveness wasn’t there. I couldn’t jump.” Of sitting out he added, “I felt bad. It was a helpless feeling. I don’t think I could have made that much of a difference.”

Harold Jamison replaced him in the starting lineup Sunday. He had two points and four rebounds in 14 minutes.

Brand will have his high school jersey retired in a ceremony tonight in Peekskill, N.Y., then test his hip again at the morning shootaround before the Clippers play Tuesday against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden.

Without Brand, the Clippers relied heavily on the hot-shooting Olowokandi, who matched his career high for the second time in five games. He also had 27 in the Clippers’ overtime loss Jan. 28 against the Memphis Grizzlies.

The Clippers led, 27-25, by the end of the first quarter, trailed, 54-50, by the half and were down, 81-78, after three quarters. And they were within 83-80 with 9:15 to play.

But Boston’s Erick Strickland made two free throws, Walter McCarty made a three-point basket and Walker drove for two hoops. Walker then made a 17-foot jumper to cap a 14-5 run that propelled the Celtics to a 97-85 lead with five minutes left.

The Clippers were unable to cut the deficit to less than double digits the rest of the way.

“It could have been fatigue,” Olowokandi said of the Clippers’ lack of a finishing kick. “It could have been our defense. It could have been a whole bunch of things. We just didn’t come up with the stops when we needed to come up with the stops. We were unable to execute offensively when we needed to.

“And when you can’t do those two things down the stretch, you don’t have a chance to win the basketball game.”