The Usual Philadelphia Story

So bad were the Clippers on Wednesday night that they planned to flee the country this morning.

That’s not true, of course, the part about fleeing.

But they were scheduled to fly into Canada, where Friday night they’ll wrap up a forgettable-to-this-point three-game trip against Toronto.

They’re 0-2 after their second blowout loss in two nights, this one to the Philadelphia 76ers, whose 100-80 victory in front of 18,622 in the Wachovia Center was aided in great part by poor Clipper shooting and ballhandling.

The Wachovia Center, which opened before the 1996-97 season, has been renamed twice, but the Clippers still have never won there.

They’re 0-7 in Philadelphia since winning in the Spectrum on March 10, 1996, and they’re 1-25 in Philadelphia since moving from Buffalo, N.Y.

Also, they played Wednesday without leading scorer Corey Maggette, who was suspended for two games without pay because of an altercation with Kenyon Martin of the New Jersey Nets in Tuesday night’s 92-75 loss.

And forward Bobby Simmons, who probably would have taken Maggette’s place in the starting lineup, was unable to play because of a sprained right wrist.

So, it really wasn’t much of a surprise that the Clippers lost.

But they barely gave themselves a chance, committing 21 turnovers and, when not coughing up the ball, misfiring on their shots.

They made only 38.6%, leading to their third consecutive road loss and ninth in 10 games since Nov. 14. They’re 3-10 outside Staples Center after the 76ers turned a one-point halftime lead into a 27-point fourth-quarter advantage.

“We didn’t compete,” said forward Elton Brand, who led the Clippers with 26 points and 12 rebounds. “We turned the ball over, gave them layups, easy opportunities. At least we’ve got to get a look at the basket. You can’t win if you play like that. And until we get over that ... we’re not going to win on the road much.”

At one point in the second quarter, a fan seated behind the Clipper bench called out to Coach Mike Dunleavy, “Can I get you a beer?”

Dunleavy arched his eyebrows, as if to say he was tempted.

And that was when the Clippers, despite their poor play and against all odds, still were within striking distance of the 76ers.

Behind Allen Iverson, who scored 20 points in his second game since sitting out 10 because of a bruised right knee, the 76ers had raced to a 24-11 lead, only to have the Clippers end the first half with a 10-1 run that cut their deficit to 47-46.

In the third quarter, however, “we bombed it again,” in the words of Clipper guard Quentin Richardson, the 76ers opening with a 21-5 run.

“You can’t expect to win games when you turn the ball over the way we turned the ball over,” Dunleavy said. “You’ve got no shot. The differential between our [points scored off] turnovers and their [points scored off] turnovers was 21 points.

“That’s the game right there.”

The 76ers scored 32 points off turnovers, the Clippers 11.

“It’s very frustrating, especially when I know the potential of our team,” Brand said. “We play very well, at times. We played well in this game, at times.”

Most of the time, however, they didn’t play well at all.

On the plus side, they avoided another altercation after a hard foul by Eddie House on Iverson in the second quarter. Iverson, angered at being hit in the head, was restrained by teammate John Salmons.

“I’m glad somebody was there to stop me,” Iverson said.