Clippers Extend Kings’ Reign

A funny thing happened on the way to the coronation.

In a game that was supposed to mark the Clippers’ ascension and the Sacramento Kings’ decline in the Pacific Division, everyone reverted to their traditional roles, instead.

The Kings, who had been first or second in the division for the last five seasons, started Tuesday night in last place. The Clippers -- who finished seventh, fifth, seventh, seventh and third in the division in the last five seasons -- began the night tied for first. But they started flat, got flatter and were finally flattened, 110-93, before an early-departing crowd of 18,151 in Staples Center.

It was the Kings’ 10th victory in a row over the Clippers, dating back almost three years.

Mike Bibby led the Kings with 38 points and Brad Miller had 23. This was especially timely ... because they were the only starters the Kings had left.

The other three, Peja Stojakovic, Bonzi Wells and Shareef Abdur-Rahim, were all out. The Kings had also dropped 10 of their previous 13 games and were on the second night of a back-to-back, having lost to the Trail Blazers at home Monday while the Clippers were enjoying a three-day break.

“It’s more than kind of disappointing,” Clipper forward Elton Brand said. “I’m very disappointed. We had a chance to start our little homestand and move up some games in the West. They’ve been struggling, but we knew they were going to come out with some intensity. They really put it to us tonight.”

Once again, the Clipper defense, which had been No. 1 in opponents’ field-goal percentage most of the season, unraveled. They botched coverages and left shooters open until the Kings had made enough to start feeling good about themselves.

“We got outworked,” said Coach Mike Dunleavy. “We got outsmarted.... From an IQ standpoint, it was our worst game all year long. We weren’t in the right coverages. We didn’t make the right reads....

“It’s certainly a step back. We had a team, obviously we took them lightly. How we could do that? ... We know what it’s like playing without someone.”

On top of all the Clippers’ other sins, Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley combined to put up 35 shots, of which they made 10, despite a game plan that called for them to go inside against the smaller Kings.

Cassell missed 11 of his 12 shots and named it “Sam Cassell Failure Night.”

Of course, this was one night when there was enough failure to go around.

The Kings came into the night with five consecutive losses. If that wasn’t bad enough, Sacramento, which was already down two starters, found out afterward that a third, Abdur-Rahim, had suffered a fractured jaw and was out indefinitely.

“We’re really struggling,” said Coach Rick Adelman before the game. “We’re just not playing at a very high level. Our main guys aren’t playing well. We’re not deep enough, we don’t have a margin of error enough to get through that. It’s been a real struggle.”

They only had two “main guys” left, point guard Bibby and center Miller, but they came out blazing Tuesday.

Miller, a long-range shooter, fired away as the Clippers’ Chris Kaman kept thinking about getting out there but never quite made it. Finally, after dropping seven of his first 10 shots, Kaman came out but Miller faked him into the air, drove past him and dunked.

In all, Miller shot eight for 11 in the first half and scored 16 points. Bibby had 14 and second-year forward Kevin Martin had 13.

The Kings scored 59 points and shot 55%.

Meanwhile, the Clipper guards kept pace, at least as far as shot attempts were concerned. Mobley took 11 but made only four. Cassell took nine and made one.

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An imperfect 10

The Clippers lost, 110-93, to Sacramento on Tuesday night, their 10th consecutive loss to the Kings. The last Clipper victory was on Jan. 18, 2003 (112-107). A look at the Clippers’ last 10 games against the Kings (* home games):

*--* DATE RESULT Dec. 27, 2005* Lost, 110-93 March 19, 2005* Lost, 111-107 (OT) March 11, 2005 Lost, 113-112 Jan. 17, 2005* Lost, 89-83 Jan. 15, 2005 Lost, 99-95 March 2, 2004 Lost, 113-106 Jan. 19, 2004* Lost, 125-100 Jan. 3, 2004* Lost, 116-109 Dec. 9, 2003 Lost, 105-95 March 27,2003 Lost, 114-107

*--*