Daze Will Live in Infamy

Lamar Odom rubbed a weary hand over his scalp, letting out a heavy sigh. Elton Brand conducted his first interview of the season without smiling. Eric Piatkowski answered questions dutifully, but stared into space, as if trying to make sense of what he had just witnessed.

All around the Clippers’ locker room Friday were looks of frustration and disbelief. They had a game won against the Charlotte Hornets. And then they didn’t.

The Clippers failed to protect an eight-point lead with 1:25 remaining. They failed to make free throws. They failed to defend three-point shots. They failed to win on the road for the 12th time in 14 games, dropping a victory into the Hornets’ laps, 92-91, in overtime at the Charlotte Coliseum.

“All we needed was one stop,” Odom said. “We never got it.”

Said Brand: “It doesn’t seem real.”

Added Piatkowski: “This one hurts more than any other game this season.”

After taking a 76-68 lead when Jeff McInnis’ three-point basket narrowly beat the 24-second clock with 1:25 left in regulation, the Clippers collapsed.

Charlotte got hot and won its third consecutive. The Clippers have lost a season-high four in a row and slipped below the .500 mark (18-19) for the first time since they were 9-10 on Dec. 7.

Hornet guard David Wesley, who had missed eight of nine shots, made three three-point baskets and Bryce Drew one in the final 1:07 and the Hornets forced the Clippers to overtime, tied, 82-82. Drew’s basket tied the score with 7.7 seconds left and sent an announced crowd of 13,087 into a frenzy.

The game went to the five-minute extra period because the Clippers failed to smother the Hornets on the perimeter. They lost in overtime because they couldn’t make free throws, missing four of five.

Center Michael Olowokandi’s first basket of the game, on a hook over Charlotte’s Elden Campbell, had given the Clippers a 91-90 lead in overtime. Brand blocked Campbell’s short shot on the Hornets’ next trip.

Forced to foul, the Hornets grabbed Odom with 20.7 seconds remaining. Odom calmly stepped to the line and missed both free throws. Campbell missed at the other end, but Olowokandi slapped the rebound out of bounds with 5.2 seconds left.

Charlotte called a timeout, setting up a play that looked ridiculously easy in hindsight. Baron Davis inbounded the ball to Campbell on the low block, got it back and drove to the basket to score the go-ahead basket with 1.5 left.

The Clippers had one final chance, but Darius Miles’ jump shot from the right wing fell short at the buzzer.

“This game was ours,” Piatkowski said. “I don’t know how many times I said that during the game. This will be one of those nights when I won’t be able to sleep.”

The Clippers built a 17-point lead, but Charlotte narrowed it to 10 by halftime. The Clippers led, 62-51, to start the fourth quarter and seemed to have control even after Charlotte went on a 9-3 run.

McInnis’ jump shot over Drew from the left baseline gave the Clippers a 67-62 lead. The Clippers seemed to have the Hornets running on a treadmill at that point, working hard but failing to draw nearer than five points.

When McInnis made his desperation three-point basket to beat the 24-second clock, putting the Clippers up by eight with 1:25 left, it appeared the game was over. But Wesley made the first of the Hornets’ four three-pointers and things got tighter instead of easier for the Clippers.

Earl Boykins had one final chance to seal the victory for the Clippers in regulation, but made only one of two free throws for a three-point lead with 23.3 seconds remaining.

“We just found a way to win,” Charlotte Coach Paul Silas said.

And, despite 22 points each from Odom and Brand, the Clippers found a way to lose. It was that simple.

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