Brand’s Last Grasp Fails

Wednesday’s game in the SBC Center came down to the last two possessions, which in itself was a victory of sorts for the Clippers.

Storming back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit against probably the NBA’s best team, they held the San Antonio Spurs without a field goal for more than eight minutes down the stretch -- on the Spurs’ home floor, no less.

But it was only a cruel tease.

After Tony Parker scored on a twisting, driving layup with 7.9 seconds to play and, moments later, Elton Brand misfired on a turnaround jumper in the lane, the Spurs escaped with an 80-79 victory in front of 17,603.

San Antonio has won 13 consecutive home games and is 34-1 in the SBC Center since March 1, but the Clippers made the Spurs sweat this one out to the end.

“We can only ask for one thing more and that would be to have the ball on the last possession and make a shot,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said after the Clippers’ losing streak reached three games. “Our guys put a great effort out.”

Parker’s shot ended an 18-4 run by the Clippers, who turned a 74-61 deficit into a 79-78 lead when Bobby Simmons made two free throws with 19 seconds left.

The Spurs to that point had made only three of 17 shots in the fourth quarter. Tim Duncan, their leading scorer and a two-time most valuable player, hadn’t scored since midway through the third and had made only one shot since the first.

Parker, who scored 25 points, took a pass from Manu Ginobili in the corner and, with defender Quinton Ross running at him, faked a shot and drove toward the basket, where he encountered Clipper center Chris Kaman.

Kaman would finish with 21 points and 14 rebounds, outscoring Duncan and matching his rebound total, and now his team was positioned to win too.

He crowded Parker but not quite enough to stop him.

“He’s a great free-throw shooter,” Kaman said of Parker, who actually has struggled at the line, having made only 15 of 36 foul shots in his last six games before making three of three Wednesday, “so I didn’t want to foul him. But at the same time I didn’t want him to score the basket. I tried to get a piece of it, but unfortunately I couldn’t ... and he had enough space to make the shot.

“It was just kind of a call on my part. It wasn’t really a mistake, but it was unfortunate that he was able to get the shot off.”

The Clippers, though, still had enough time to pull off the upset before jetting away to Dallas, where tonight they’ll play the Mavericks.

After a timeout, they brought the ball into Brand, who took it into the lane against Duncan, pivoted and lofted a turnaround jumper from about 10 feet out.

It was off line, glancing off the right side of the rim.

Ginobili pulled down the rebound and dribbled out the last second.

“I had a good look,” Brand said later, exhaling. “Man, this was a tough game. We had an opportunity and I got a good look at it. It just didn’t drop.”

The Clippers, who have lost seven of their last eight road games, were positioned to win despite making only 35.1% of their shots.

They made only three of 19 in the third quarter, when the Spurs seemingly took control behind Parker, who alone outscored the Clippers in the period, 15-14.

But the Spurs made only 39.7% of their shots and Duncan, five of 16 from the field, scored only three of his 12 points after the first quarter.

“A lot of times you could have just faded, folded,” Dunleavy said. “But our guys stayed with it. We had some tremendous efforts. I mean, Kaman’s effort -- just his energy alone, forget the numbers -- was a terrific sight.”

Brand’s wasn’t bad either. Though he missed 14 of 18 shots, he matched a season high with 18 rebounds and scored 14 points.

He needed two more.