Brand Isn’t Defeated by Losses

Elton Brand’s disappointment in not reaching the playoffs again this spring is tempered, he said Saturday, by his belief that the Clippers, after 12 consecutive losing seasons, are on the verge of a momentous turnaround.

“It’s going to happen and it’s going to happen big,” he said.

The No. 1 selection of the Chicago Bulls after leading Duke to the NCAA championship game in 1999, Brand is the first top overall pick in NBA history to make it through his first six seasons without reaching the playoffs.

He was confident he’d make his playoff debut this month, but injuries to their top three guards and an inability to win consistently on the road and in close games doomed the Clippers to their eighth consecutive season of falling short.

“It’s very frustrating because that’s the pinnacle,” Brand said before Saturday night’s 125-124 double-overtime loss to the San Antonio Spurs in front of a sellout crowd of 19,748 at Staples Center. “You want to get there so you can get an opportunity to win a championship. But I’m also a realist. It takes time....

“I’ve always been on one of the youngest and [lowest-paid] teams. But now I think we’re turning that corner. We’re getting some vets that want to come here and play and [the rest of us are] growing into vets that can play.”

The Clippers, who squandered an early 16-point lead before overcoming a five-point deficit in the last two minutes of regulation, are 4-13 in games decided by three points or fewer after former Laker Robert Horry made a three-point shot with 22.2 seconds to play in the second overtime.

Horry also blocked a layup by Clipper Mikki Moore in the final seconds, enabling the Spurs to end a six-game road losing streak.

The Clippers are 3-6 in overtime games, all at Staples Center.

A layup by Chris Kaman sent the game into overtime and a layup by Shaun Livingston sent the game into a second extra period. Another layup by Livingston, who scored a season-high 18 points, gave the Clippers a 124-122 lead with 32 seconds left in the second overtime, but Horry broke their hearts.

The Clippers, who made 58% of their shots, played most of the overtime without Brand and Corey Maggette. Maggette scored 24 points before fouling out early in overtime. Brand, who fouled out in the fourth quarter, scored 20.

Spur guards Manu Ginobili and Tony Parker combined for 67 points and 18 assists, Ginobili scoring 40 points on 12-of-27 shooting.

The Spurs, already without injured forward Tim Duncan, played the last 14 1/2 minutes of regulation and the overtime periods without center Rasho Nesterovic, who did not return after suffering a sprained left ankle in the third quarter.

Three years ago, in Brand’s first season with the club, the Clippers finished five games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the West.

This year, they were 9 1/2 games out before Saturday, but, “I actually feel like we’re closer now,” Brand said. The 2001-02 team, he said, was beset by internal strife and selfish play brought about by contract uncertainties.

“We imploded,” he said of the team’s 3-10 finish.

This season, Brand said, “What encouraged me most is how the team didn’t give up,” despite a string of injuries that sidelined guards Kerry Kittles, Marko Jaric and Livingston for long stretches. “It showed that we could have a really good ballclub once we get everybody together.”

He called it “a positive season.”

But to reach the next level, he added, “I think the team needs to stay together this summer,” literally and figuratively.

That would involve management re-signing free-agent regulars Jaric and Bobby Simmons -- the Clippers are not expected to retain Kittles -- and players accepting Coach Mike Dunleavy’s invitation to come together for 10 days in July in Las Vegas, where the Clippers will take part in a summer league, provided a new collective bargaining agreement is in place before then.

Brand said a “majority” of his teammates would join him in the desert for daily practices, team bonding and, perhaps, the odd game of chance.

The co-captain said he might even suit up for a game or two.

“We see what it takes now,” Brand said of the team’s goal of turning itself into a contender. “We feel like we’ve been through it.”