Bad Breaks to Affect Post-Break Efforts

This isn’t how they’d planned it.

The Clippers hoped to finally be at full strength and positioned to make a late push to the playoffs when they resumed their season tonight against the Phoenix Suns after taking a week off for the All-Star break.

But that was before Marko Jaric, Kerry Kittles and Shaun Livingston all were shelved during a 1-7 trip leading into the break.

Now Coach Mike Dunleavy’s team is scrambling, a playoff berth seems improbable if not out of reach, Kittles remains sidelined indefinitely and neither Jaric nor Livingston is expected back before the middle of next month.

“Nothing’s going to be easy,” Dunleavy said Tuesday. “We’ve got to play really smart and grind out some wins. I thought this trip would be the one where we’d get healthy and stay close to the pack before going home.”

Instead, they lost the last seven games of the trip. Along the way, Kittles and Jaric were sent back to Los Angeles, Kittles because of a degenerative disk in his lower back and Jaric because of a stress fracture in his right foot.

Livingston, who returned to the lineup Feb. 13 after sitting out 39 games because of a dislocated right kneecap, suffered torn cartilage in his right shoulder two nights later while making a steal against the Orlando Magic.

Through it all, Dunleavy said, “I think, genuinely, guys have played hard, been in positions to win. We’re not far from where we need to be. I think they see that and kind of understand that.

“Now we just need to get a little momentum somewhere. I’m not saying that we’re not in a feel-sorry-for-ourselves stage -- there is some of that -- but when we get out on the court, I think that goes away. I think everybody goes out with the mind-set, ‘OK, tonight’s the night we’re going to get it right and get ourselves a win,’ and that we can do it against virtually anybody.”

*

TONIGHT

at Phoenix, 6 PST, FSNW2

Site -- America West Arena.

Radio -- KTLK (1150).

Records -- Clippers 23-30, Suns 41-13.

Record vs. Suns -- 0-2.

Update -- The Suns defeated the Clippers by 11 points in November and 17 points in January, both at Staples Center. Amare Stoudemire averaged 25 points in the two games, Shawn Marion averaged 22 points and 12.5 rebounds, Steve Nash averaged 16 points and 14 assists and Joe Johnson scored 23 points in each game.