Calls Don’t Go Clippers’ Way

If the Clippers were disappointed in two crucial calls that went against them Saturday, they were incensed when they saw the replays.

The first sent Tracy McGrady to the foul line with 1.1 seconds to play in regulation, whereupon he made two free throws to send the game into overtime, and the second took away an overtime basket by Chris Wilcox.

McGrady ended up with 32 points and the Houston Rockets, who had lost four of five and Saturday had frittered away a 12-point lead, hung on to defeat the Clippers, 91-86, in front of 18,255 in Staples Center.

The calls loomed large after Wilcox, with a chance to give the Clippers a three-point lead, missed the first of two free throws with 8.7 seconds to play.

At the other end, McGrady bumped into Bobby Simmons as he went up for a jumper and Simmons, who scored 20 points on six-of-nine shooting, was called for his sixth foul, sending the Clipper forward to the bench.

McGrady, Simmons said later, had initiated the contact.

Before seeing the replay, Coach Mike Dunleavy seemed not to care who had bumped into whom.

“We definitely don’t want to foul a jump shooter at that point in the game,” he said. “You’ve got to be careful about any kind of contact, no matter who’s creating the contact.

“You know McGrady, as soon as he feels any contact, whether he does it or somebody does it to him, he’s going to make it look like a foul.”

Later, after Dunleavy saw what the television cameras had seen, he was more agitated. Bumping into General Manager Elgin Baylor in the locker room, the coach asked, “Did you see that ... ?”

Also uncomplimentary was his opinion of the call against Wilcox, which took away a basket that would have tied the score, 88-88, and also would have sent Wilcox to the foul line with 45.4 seconds to play in overtime.

Instead, Wilcox was called for an offensive foul against former Clipper Maurice Taylor and the Clippers, who missed eight of 10 shots in the extra period, didn’t score again. Jim Jackson made a baseline jumper at the other end and McGrady added a late free throw, his 14th in 15 attempts.

“The biggest play was the Wilcox play,” Dunleavy said. “We executed it, got the ball right there in the paint ... and he was so open that he decided to take the next move and get all the way to the rim.”

Taylor stood in his way and, it was so ruled, took the charge.

Three games into a stretch in which they will play 12 of 13 games in Staples Center and not leave California for nearly a month, the Clippers are 1-2 after consecutive losses to the Lakers and Rockets.

McGrady had missed 15 of 23 shots, Yao Ming was never much of a factor before fouling out with 10 points and eight rebounds and the Rockets made 39% of their shots. But still the Clippers had lost.

They made 41.3% of their shots, two of eight from behind the three-point arc, and were outrebounded, 47-35.

“I’m just frustrated with what’s happened,” said Marko Jaric, who missed eight of 10 shots for the second game in a row.

“We need to realize that we need to win these kind of games. We lost a game like this to Detroit [99-96, in double-overtime].

“If we want to be more serious, we need to close out these games and move forward. Otherwise, we’re going to struggle in the bottom of the league all our lives.”