No One Answers Clipper SOS

In the third quarter Sunday in Staples Center, Clipper forward Elton Brand was caught in a defensive mismatch, covering guard Jason Richardson of the Golden State Warriors along the right wing.

As he is supposed to do, Brand forced the shorter player toward the baseline, only to have Richardson rise and throw down a dunk, after which an exasperated Brand threw up his hands as if to ask, “Where’s the help?”

Mostly, it was sitting out.

Sidelined because of various injuries, Quentin Richardson was on the bench in a white sweat suit, Corey Maggette was on the bench in a black business suit and Chris Wilcox was on the bench in jeans and a long-sleeved T-shirt.

Marko Jaric, on the injured list, wasn’t even in the building.

The Warriors, recognizing an opportunity for a rare road victory, took advantage of the depleted Clipper lineup, jumped out to an early 10-point lead, built it to 22 and never trailed before winning, 96-85, in front of 16,003.

The Clippers, rapidly sinking toward another 50-loss season -- it would be their 15th in 19 full seasons in Los Angeles -- have lost their last three games, seven of eight and 11 of 13. They’re 5-18 since Feb. 4, 27-43 overall.

But owner Donald Sterling, after going AWOL for two games against the Lakers last week, dared to show his face again, probably figuring it was safe to return for a game against the lowly Warriors, who are nearly as bad as the Clippers and actually are worse on the road (8-27). They’re 29-40 overall.

The Clippers, though, missed 12 of 15 shots in the first quarter, the starters missing nine of 10, and were outrebounded, 17-8.

The Warrior advantage was 10-2 after three minutes, 20-10 after nine. Only once from that point until game’s end, for 10 seconds near the end of the fourth quarter, was the Warrior lead less than 10 points.

“We never got them into panic mode,” Mike Dunleavy said. On his 50th birthday, the Clipper coach expected more.

“Everybody has injuries,” he said, dismissing the absence from his lineup of four of the Clippers’ top five scorers. “Corey and Q [sitting out] had nothing to do with this one, as far as I’m concerned.

“It had more to do with the fact that we couldn’t make good shots when we had them, we couldn’t finish layups when they were wide open and then we made mistakes that were very costly.”

The Warriors, who have won four in a row, outshot the Clippers, 46% to 38%, and outrebounded them, 46-35. They actually might have won even more handily had Dunleavy’s son, Warrior guard Mike Dunleavy Jr., not missed all six of his three-point shots and nine of 10 shots overall.

Still, he won for the first time in three games against his father.

Richardson led the Warriors with 28 points and had nine rebounds. Erick Dampier had 16 points and 17 rebounds.

Five Clippers scored in double figures, led by Brand, who had 20 points and 10 rebounds, making six of his last nine shots after missing all four in the first quarter. Keyon Dooling matched a career high with 18 points.

“It’s always frustrating when you’re losing,” Dooling said. “We’re athletes, we’re competitive. You can’t say that just for the simple fact that we’re getting a check every month that you’re happy no matter what. No. We want to win.”