Four-Week Stretch Is Key to Playoff Hopes

One victory over a dysfunctional opponent does not constitute a playoff push, of course, but Thursday night’s 92-86 win over the Minnesota Timberwolves might have kept the Clippers from throwing themselves over a ledge.

Coach Mike Dunleavy indicated before the game that the Clippers had just about reached a breaking point after eight consecutive losses.

“Winning’s the only thing that’s going to do it for us,” he said. “The further down we sink the more it becomes an issue where the coach fights it to not be about statistics and guys putting numbers up for themselves. What I try to [convey] is that we come to teach every day and that everything is about getting better and ultimately it’s going to pay off for us.

“But at this point, we’re slipping. We’re on that slippery slope right now and we could fall off. The main thing is that we’ve got to continue for the next [27] ballgames to get younger guys to understand what we’re trying to do, how to continue to stay that way and not give up. That’s the key, really.”

It’s a lesson that might be more easily digested at Staples Center, where the Clippers have won five in a row and will play 11 of their next 14 games, one a Laker home game, sandwiched around three one-game trips.

They’re 18-10 at home, a .643 winning percentage that is better than the home records of four of the 10 teams in front of them in the playoff race and nearly on par with two others. But they are 6-21 on the road. Among Western Conference teams, only the New Orleans Hornets and Golden State Warriors have worse road records. The Utah Jazz also is 6-21 on the road.

“You’re always going to get a lift from the home crowd,” Dunleavy said after the Clippers dropped the sinking Timberwolves below .500. “They’re going to give you that extra energy ... and it’s the surroundings you’re most used to.”

After this upcoming four-week stretch of mostly home games, the Clippers will end the season by playing 10 of their last 13 games on the road.

By that time, they’ll know if their playoff hopes are still valid.

As Sam Cassell of the Timberwolves noted after Thursday’s game, “Anything can happen. I mean, the Terminator is the governor of California.”