Gentry Says Pressing May Be an Issue

Coach Alvin Gentry said Monday he doesn’t believe point guard Andre Miller is pressing, forcing the issue to make things happen for the Clippers. Well, not Miller specifically, anyway.

“All these guys want to do well,” Gentry said before the team played the Golden State Warriors. “In general, our team has reached a point where we want to win so badly that we start pressing.”

Gentry’s message to his players (and reporters) after the Clippers let a 15-point lead late in the third quarter slip away in Sunday’s 84-78 loss to the Seattle SuperSonics was simple: Relax and have fun.

The Clippers looked anything but relaxed down the stretch against Seattle. They certainly didn’t have any fun after their seventh loss in 10 games to start the season.

Miller had a poor shooting game, missing 15 of 19 shots and four of seven free throws en route to scoring 12 points (with six assists) in 46 minutes. He missed two late free throws that would have helped to slow the Clippers’ fourth-quarter slide. The Clippers were outscored, 30-14, in the fourth quarter.

“I think this team is going to be a good team,” Gentry said. “We’re going to play ourselves out of this. We can’t talk about making sweeping changes. We’ve got to understand that we can play through this and be a good team. We can’t make any excuses because we don’t have any excuses. We’ve got play better.”

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Quentin Richardson is eligible to come off the injured list today, although it remains to be seen if he will be activated in time for Wednesday’s game against the Sacramento Kings.

He bruised his right knee Nov. 8 during the Clippers’ loss to the New Jersey Nets. He also sprained his right knee Oct. 4 while doing wind sprints. He hyperextended it during the Clippers’ victory Nov. 3 against the Detroit Pistons.

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(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Clippers 99, Warriors 89

*--* CLIPPERS Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Brand...38 6-15 5-6 4-11 3 5 17 Maggette...37 6-12 3-5 0-3 2 3 16 Olowokandi...45 11-19 2-2 2-12 4 3 24 Piatkowski...37 5-11 3-4 1-7 4 2 14 AndMiller...35 2-7 5-6 1-2 8 6 9 Fowlkes...12 2-2 0-0 0-1 0 4 4 Rooks...7 1-1 0-0 0-2 1 1 2 Jaric...10 2-4 0-0 1-2 0 2 4 Dooling...19 3-8 2-2 0-2 3 2 9

*--*

*--* Totals 38-79 20-25 9-42 25 28 99

*--*

Shooting: Field goals, 48.1%; free throws, 80.0%

Three-point goals: 3-5 (Dooling 1-1, Maggette 1-1, Piatkowski 1-3). Team Rebounds: 6. Team Turnovers: 19 (14 PTS). Blocked Shots: 6 (Brand 5, And.Miller). Turnovers: 16 (Brand 4, Maggette 4, And.Miller 3, Olowokandi 2, Piatkowski, Rooks, Fowlkes). Steals: 8 (Dooling 3, Piatkowski, Olowokandi, Maggette, Fowlkes, And.Miller). Technical Fouls: Maggette, 2:08 third.

*--* GOLDEN STATE Min FG-A FT-A OR-T A P T Murphy...28 3-10 4-4 4-10 0 4 10 Jamison...45 9-21 8-13 3-6 3 0 26 Dampier...33 4-13 0-0 9-17 0 3 8 JRichardson...27 1-8 2-4 3-5 3 0 4 Arenas...25 5-12 0-0 1-4 2 6 12 Oliver...12 0-6 2-2 0-2 5 1 2 Dunleavy...28 3-6 8-10 1-5 3 2 15 Guyton...8 0-2 0-0 0-0 2 0 0 Foyle...15 3-5 0-0 0-3 0 3 6 Welsch...11 1-2 1-2 0-1 0 0 3 Torres...8 1-2 0-0 0-1 0 0 3

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*--* Totals 30-87 25-35 21-54 18 19 89

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Shooting: Field goals, 34.5%; free throws, 71.4%

Three-point goals: 4-9 (Arenas 2-3, Torres 1-1, Dunleavy 1-3, Oliver 0-2). Team Rebounds: 11. Team Turnovers: 18 (25 PTS). Blocked Shots: 8 (Dampier 4, Jamison 2, Foyle, Dunleavy). Turnovers: 17 (Arenas 4, J.Richardson 3, Welsch 3, Dampier 2, Dunleavy 2, Jamison, Torres, Guyton). Steals: 9 (Foyle 2, Dampier, Jamison, Arenas, Oliver, Dunleavy, Torres, Guyton). Technical Fouls: Defensive Three Second, 11:45 second

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L.A. Clippers 27 25 21 26 -- 99 Golden State 17 21 20 31 -- 89

A--12,196. T--2:08. O--David Jones, Dan Crawford, Bennie Adams *--*