Clippers Keep Sinking

For the Clippers, the most prudent thing to do at this point might be to lose the rest of their games and hope the lottery gods are smiling on them when the Ping-Pong balls are dropped May 26 to determine the NBA draft order.

Prudent, but painful.

Their losing streak reached 11 games Sunday night when they were defeated by the Utah Jazz, 97-92, in front of 17,453 in Staples Center.

They last won March 16 at Phoenix, the losses and the injuries having multiplied since, the injuries at only a slightly slower rate than the defeats.

They played again Sunday without regulars Quentin Richardson, Marko Jaric, Bobby Simmons and Chris Wilcox. Jaric and Richardson are on the injured list, and Jaric said before the game that he won’t play again this season.

Richardson, sidelined because of back spasms, also might be finished. Coach Mike Dunleavy said it was “probably doubtful” the Clippers’ second-leading rebounder and third-leading scorer would return this season.

“Anybody that’s out with an injury now,” Dunleavy said, the season finale only nine days away, “it’s almost silly to risk bringing them back.”

Short-handed, and with little to play for, the Clippers lined up against a Utah team locked in a hotly contested race for the eighth playoff position in the Western Conference. The Jazz has reached the playoffs in 20 consecutive seasons. Or, put another way, 17 more times than the Clippers over the same span.

In the second half, it was clear which team had more on the line, as the Jazz opened the third quarter with a 25-10 burst to erase a six-point halftime deficit. By the time the run ended, Dunleavy had been ejected for the second time in five games, referee Tony Brothers having taken offense to his complaints.

The Clippers, who got 26 points from Corey Maggette and 18 each from Keyon Dooling and Predrag Drobnjak, closed to within two points in the fourth quarter before the Jazz hit them with a 12-0 run.

Andrei Kirilenko scored 18 points, Carlos Arroyo 15 for the Jazz, which moved into a tie with the Denver Nuggets for eighth in the West, a half-game ahead of the Portland Trail Blazers.

The Jazz made nearly 58% of its shots in the second half and over four quarters outrebounded the Clippers, 40-25.

Said Dunleavy, rejecting the suggestion that the Clippers had little on the line: “Last time I checked, we’ve got [a] double-digit [losing streak]. To me, that would be enough, pride-wise and effort-wise, to make me focus and do what I need to do for a full 48 minutes, not just for chunks of time during a game.”

Elton Brand, though, said it’s easier said than done.

“It’s kind of hard to match the intensity of a team that wants a playoff berth,” the Clipper forward said, “especially when we’re sitting back saying, ‘Oh, we’re short-handed, woe is us,’ and feeling bad for ourselves.

“The season’s over, but we’ve got to just play our hearts out, just give it our all. The fans are still coming. They want to see some good ball.

“We owe it to ourselves, we owe it to them.”