Clippers Fall and Limp Home

Eight games, seven losses and three injuries later, the Clippers finally, mercifully headed home late Wednesday night at the end of one of the least successful, least enjoyable trips in their history.

It ended with a blowout defeat, the Eastern Conference-leading Miami Heat exploiting the Clippers’ ever-thinning guard corps in a 113-95 victory in front of a sellout crowd of 19,600 in AmericanAirlines Arena.

Damon Jones made eight of 10 three-point shots while scoring a career-high 31 points and backcourt mate Dwyane Wade finished with 28 points and 12 assists in helping the Heat extend the Clippers’ losing streak to seven games.

The Clippers had only four guards available, including seldom-used rookie Lionel Chalmers, after an MRI exam Wednesday revealed that rookie Shaun Livingston had suffered torn cartilage in his right shoulder Tuesday night. Livingston had been back in the lineup for only two games after a three-month absence.

He was the third Clipper guard to go on the shelf in the last five days. Last weekend, Marko Jaric and Kerry Kittles flew back to Los Angeles to nurse injuries. None of the three is expected to play again this month.

“A disaster,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said after Wednesday night’s game, summing up a trip in which the Clippers rallied from an 18-point deficit to win the opener at Memphis, lost the next six games by a total of 20 points and never seriously challenged the Heat after the first quarter. “I thought we probably played the best basketball of any team that went 1-7 on an eight-game trip.

“We had some really good games, didn’t come up with the wins. But the disaster part of it was the injury portion of it, losing Marko, Kerry and then Shaun again. I would have rather gone 0-8 and have those guys healthy to give us a chance to get everybody back together playing like we know we can play.

“But short-handed and punching new guys in every other game, it is what it is: It’s difficult. We’re doing the best we can do with it.”

With Jones leading the way and the Clippers running on fumes, the Heat made 53.3% of its shots, the best shooting by a Clipper opponent since Nov. 21, when the Phoenix Suns made 53.7% in a 122-111 victory at Staples Center. The Clippers hadn’t given up so many points since Dec. 17, when they lost to the Minnesota Timberwolves, 113-86, at Minneapolis.

The trip, their worst since a winless seven-game trek in the 1999-2000 season, dropped them a season-high seven games below .500.

“It’s disheartening,” guard Rick Brunson said of the streak, which has dropped their road record to 6-20, and 2-17 since November. “But you can’t sit here and try to make excuses. You’ve just got to try to go back to the lab and try to fix the problem. I mean, we played well, but there’s no moral victories in this league. We’ve just got to pound away at it and hopefully it will turn for us.”

Corey Maggette, back in the starting lineup after unhappily spelling rookie Quinton Ross in the previous four games, led the Clippers with 21 points. Elton Brand finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Brunson had eight assists.

Miami’s Shaquille O’Neal had 14 points, eight rebounds and five assists in 32 minutes, mostly staying out of the way as the Heat guards dominated.

“The losing streak really wears on you,” Brand said. “The travel really wears on you. If we were winning, it would be a lot easier. You’d feel a lot better about yourself and the psyche of the team would be much more positive.”