Trip Isn’t Getting Any Easier

The Clippers arrived here weary and woozy, several hours later than scheduled, early Thursday after their late-night charter flight from Boston was sent back because of a cooking accident in the galley that caused the jet’s cabin to fill with smoke.

Cleared for takeoff again more than an hour later, the Clippers finally arrived at their Washington hotel about 4 a.m., safe and sound.

“That was the good news,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

The bad news: They’ve fallen three games below .500 in the least demanding portion of an eight-game trip, having lost their last three games by a total of nine points, among them a 94-89 defeat Wednesday against the Boston Celtics in which they led by 14 points with 10 minutes to play.

Up next for the Clippers before the All-Star break: games over the next six nights against the Washington Wizards, Toronto Raptors, Orlando Magic and Miami Heat, who among them have won more than 72% of their home games.

The Clippers, meanwhile, are 6-16 on the road, 2-13 since November.

The Celtics, storming back from an 18-point halftime deficit, seized control with a 16-0 run in the fourth quarter, but a 13-2 spurt in the third fueled their spirits.

“If you give them a reason to keep fighting, they will,” Dunleavy said of the Celtics, who wiped out a 12-point fourth-quarter deficit in a double-overtime victory over the Clippers in December. “We’ve done it. We did it on this trip, down 18 at Memphis. You get that momentum, you play harder.”

Marko Jaric suggested that the Clippers had played “too soft.” Dunleavy said that perhaps they’d become “somewhat complacent” with a big lead.

“That could be a part of it, thinking we had it won and it’s over,” Elton Brand said. “It’s never over in this league, as you could see [Wednesday] night. We should know better, but I guess we felt, ‘Yeah, we’ve got this won.’ ”

TONIGHT

at Washington, 4 PST, FSNW 2

Site -- MCI Center.

Radio -- KTLK (1150).

Records -- Clippers 23-26, Wizards 29-19.

Record vs. Wizards (2003-04) -- 0-2.

Update -- The Wizards are led by Gilbert Arenas and Antawn Jamison, who this week earned their first All-Star nods. Arenas has averaged 24.7 points, 5.2 assists and 4.3 rebounds, Jamison 20.8 points and 8.2 rebounds.