No Gust of Win in Clipper Sails

Near the end, when things began to go haywire for the Clippers and their shots stopped falling and their defense began to leak three-point baskets, you could see the outcome coming from 1,500 miles away.

Or roughly the distance between the Clippers and their point guard Friday.

With Andre Miller in Los Angeles to attend the funeral of his stepfather, Albert Robinson, the Clippers surrendered a 16-point second-half lead, sputtering down the stretch to an 88-85 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves at the Target Center.

The Clippers built a big lead, the sort of advantage they have failed to hold several times even with Miller at the point, and could not seal the deal in the fourth quarter with his replacement, Marko Jaric, at the point.

Certainly, the Clippers’ 26th loss in 42 games can’t be pinned solely on Miller’s absence. Or on Jaric’s lack of success when the Timberwolves cut the Clippers’ lead and took control. The Clippers also couldn’t pin this defeat on the absence of center Michael Olowokandi, who sat out his second game because of a bruised right thigh.

In fact, for the better part of 3 1/2 quarters, the Clippers did just fine with Jaric and Keyon Dooling filling in for Miller and with Sean Rooks starting in favor of Olowokandi. The Clippers were considerably better than fine, in fact, looking for a good chunk of Friday’s game as if they would take another strong road victory two nights after winning for the first time in 26 regular-season games at Utah.

Didn’t happen.

Sparked by a perimeter jump shot from Wally Szczerbiak and two three-point baskets and two free throws from Anthony Peeler, the Timberwolves finished with a furious rally. They turned a 78-71 deficit into an 84-80 lead in a little more than four minutes. The Clippers never regained the lead.

“That was a tough loss,” Coach Alvin Gentry said with a heavy sigh, “because we played well enough to win, but we couldn’t seem to get the game under control when we needed it most. We missed Andre.... He’s a calming influence for us. He plays a lot of minutes.”

And to think, the Clippers did so many things well, including muzzling Kevin Garnett. Although he had 14 rebounds and nine assists, Garnett would score only 14 points -- his season average is 21.9 -- on five-for-12 shooting.

The Clippers double-teamed Garnett from the start, pushing him away from the basket and forcing him to pick between a shot with hands in his face or a pass to a teammate with hands in his face.

Szczerbiak led the Timberwolves, winners of four in a row, with 18 points on six-for-13 shooting. The Clippers held Minnesota to 30-for-81 shooting (37%) and outrebounded them, 41-39. They also built a 63-47 lead after Lamar Odom made a short jump shot with 4:18 remaining in the third quarter.

The Clippers led, 68-59, to start the fourth quarter, then watched the Timberwolves sweep past with their 13-2 run. In the final analysis, the Clippers were doomed by 25 turnovers, including eight in the fourth quarter that led to 10 points for Minnesota. The Clippers would attempt only 13 shots in the fourth quarter, making six.

“We didn’t execute,” Gentry said.

Or as power forward Elton Brand, who scored 20 points and had 12 rebounds in 47 minutes, put it: “We let it slip away, but they came and got it. We had turnovers on key possessions and they made us pay.”

The Timberwolves also benefited from a debatable call on a foul that sent Peeler to the free-throw line with 2:50 remaining. It looked as if Peeler jumped into Quentin Richardson, who had held his ground along the right wing. Peeler would make both free throws for an 81-78 lead.

Gentry pleaded for justice from referee George Toliver.

“George, I’m fighting for my job,” Gentry bellowed.

Friday, he was fighting short-handed. Miller is set to rejoin the team for Sunday’s game against the Indiana Pacers. The status of Olowokandi, injured when Laker center Shaquille O’Neal kneed him Monday, is uncertain.