Quarter Doesn’t Go Very Far

The Clippers got it all wrong Saturday against the Seattle SuperSonics.

After playing a strong first quarter, they missed shot after shot, failed to adequately defend and were outhustled to too many loose balls during the first of what promise to be many more pivotal games down the stretch.

Make no mistake, however, the significant games will end soon enough if the Clippers don’t seize the day better than they did during a 95-87 loss to the SuperSonics before a sellout crowd of 19,425 at Staples Center.

And there was more bad news.

Quentin Richardson suffered a bruised left thigh in the second quarter and did not play again. His status for Monday’s game against the Houston Rockets was uncertain. Forwards Corey Maggette and Lamar Odom and guard Keyon Dooling are already sidelined because of injuries.

Gary Payton led Seattle with 23 points, helping to end the SuperSonics’ three-game losing streak. Jeff McInnis scored 30 points to lead the Clippers, who were outscored, 12-2, in the final 4:45 of the first half and failed to hold the lead again.

“We had to match their intensity and we came out flat,” McInnis said. “I’m disappointed we didn’t respond better. If you can’t get up for a game like this then you’re in the wrong profession.”

With an opportunity to move within a game of a playoff spot, the Clippers sputtered and stalled against the SuperSonics. The ninth-place Clippers dropped two games behind the eighth-place Utah Jazz and three games in back of the seventh-place SuperSonics.

To be sure, Saturday’s loss won’t ruin the Clippers’ playoff chances. But a victory over Seattle would certainly have brightened the possibilities with 15 games remaining in what has already been the team’s finest regular season in a decade.

“The bottom line is we’re closer to a playoff spot than we were a week and a half ago,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “Don’t get me wrong. It’s still a tough, tough loss.”

After a week or so of gauging their progress only by checking the standings, the Clippers finally got an up-close and personal look at one of the teams they have been chasing for a Western Conference playoff spot.

The Clippers have almost reeled in the SuperSonics (and the Jazz) on the strength of seven victories in their last 10 games, and it didn’t hurt that the SuperSonics had lost three in a row going into Saturday.

This was the sort of late-season matchup that had been missing from the Clipper schedule since 1996-97, the last time they qualified for the playoffs. In recent seasons, March and April had been agonizing times for the franchise.

But Saturday’s game was the sort the team has been desperate to play.

That it happened one night after a six-point loss to the Lakers probably look away some of the luster. After all, one Clipper-Laker game is probably worth twice the fan interest and media attention in the Southland than a dozen, more meaningful Clipper-SuperSonic games.

“After the Lakers, it was kind of tough to get up for Seattle,” said Elton Brand, who scored only eight points to go with 14 rebounds, ending his streak of consecutive double-doubles at 11 games.

“We probably got up for the wrong game.”

The Clippers, on the strength of 64% shooting in the first quarter, controlled the play at the outset. They had a 25-16 lead after Michael Olowokandi made a jump shot late in the first quarter.

The SuperSonics would rally, increasing their intensity and fighting for loose balls and rebounds in the second quarter. By halftime, Seattle had built a 45-41 lead and suddenly turned to a suffocating pressure defense that kept the Clippers motionless on the perimeter.

The Clippers went cold in the second quarter and finished the half with 16-for-43 shooting (37.2%). By game’s end, they made only 33 of 86 (38.4%). Among the misfiring Clippers were Darius Miles, who was two for 11 and Brand (two for nine).

“We really didn’t deserve to win this game,” Gentry said. “We had a good first quarter. But they outplayed us in every phase of the game. That’s what’s really disappointing. We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourselves, though. We have to forget about this.... To me, we can’t get too high on wins or too low on losses. We can’t get down.”