Johnson Loses in Debut

Dennis Johnson’s first game as interim coach looked like a good many of the Clippers’ games recently with Alvin Gentry as their coach.

The Clippers played Monday without power forward Elton Brand, center Michael Olowokandi and small forward Lamar Odom and faded in the fourth quarter en route to a 111-108 loss against the New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center. The victory was the Hornets’ seventh in a row.

Although they showed a bit more passion than with Gentry as their coach in recent weeks, the Clippers still lost their sixth consecutive game and their 15th in the last 18.

A late Clipper rally trimmed a 10-point deficit to 111-108 in the closing seconds. After Kenny Anderson made one of two free throws for New Orleans, Andre Miller’s tying three-point attempt at the buzzer glanced off the rim.

“We have high expectations,” Johnson said. “We got the guys to play hard. We told them from the beginning that we don’t know how long it’s going to take [to turn around the team’s sagging fortunes].”

Without his starting front line, Johnson had to juggle his lineup. He started Cherokee Parks in place of Brand, Sean Rooks in place of Olowokandi and Quentin Richardson in place of Odom. Miller and Eric Piatkowski started at the guard spots.

At one point late in the game, Johnson had rookies Melvin Ely, Marko Jaric and Chris Wilcox together on the floor.

In the end, the Clippers had no answer for Jamal Mashburn, who scored 35 points on 13-for-21 shooting. When Mashburn was double-teamed, he passed to David Wesley, who had 23 points.

Corey Maggette had 24 points, Richardson 22 and Miller 21 for the Clippers.

“We came up with 21 assists,” Johnson said. “We’ve got to get everybody user-friendly. We’ve got to get that ball moving around. We’ve got to share the wealth.”

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Johnson received a ringing endorsement from Richardson.

“He doesn’t care what you think about him,” Richardson said when asked if he hoped Johnson would become the team’s long-term coach.

“He’s definitely got my vote. He’s been one of my favorite people since I got here. As a player, he’s been in a lot of the situations we’re in. He can relate to what we go through. He’s been where everybody is trying to get.”

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Piatkowski on Gentry:

“Alvin is a great, great guy. Everybody liked him an awful lot. I don’t think you’ll hear anybody around here say anything negative about Alvin. Every day, he was trying to get something done. We were working on things. He made it clear he wasn’t giving up on the season.”