Backup Plan Dooms Clippers

The Clippers probably thought they had caught a break Saturday night when they learned that, for the second time in little more than a month, injured point guard Baron Davis would be unavailable to play against them.

They hadn’t counted on Dan Dickau uncorking a career night.

Davis’ backup scored 17 of his career-high 27 points in the fourth quarter, among them two three-point baskets in the last 18 seconds, and the New Orleans Hornets surprised the Clippers, 88-85, in front of 14,123 in New Orleans Arena.

The Clippers -- who also were short-handed, with scoring leader Corey Maggette unavailable because of a sore left foot -- wrapped up an 0-3 trip with their fifth consecutive loss, matching their longest losing streak of the season. They have lost their last five road games and nine of 10 since Nov. 26.

They ended their previous five-game skid with a Dec. 21 overtime victory over the Hornets at Staples Center and hoped for the same fate Saturday. But Dickau, the only sound point guard available to the Hornets, put a crimp in their plans.

“It’s definitely a setback for us,” Rick Brunson said of the Clippers’ third loss in four days. “We’re trying to make something happen here as far as the playoffs and this is a step backward. We can’t keep saying the next game is a must-win.”

This one probably qualified. By losing to the NBA’s worst team, albeit one that is 5-3 after a 2-29 start and has won its last four home games, the Clippers (18-22) dropped to a season-worst four games below .500.

“It’s big,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “It keeps us on a slide.”

Dickau bedeviled the Clippers in the fourth quarter, mixing long-range jumpers with slashing drives.

He won the game with a 25-foot shot with 2.1 seconds left, the 6-footer lofting it over 7-foot defender Mikki Moore after Bobby Simmons had pulled the Clippers even eight seconds earlier with a three-point basket of his own.

Moore had been on the bench since picking up three fouls in the first half, but Dunleavy brought him onto the court for the last 10 seconds, anticipating that after a defensive switch Moore would wind up face to face with Dickau.

That’s exactly where they stood when Dickau froze the defender, Moore backpedaling slightly as Dickau rose up for the shot.

“By the time I got out there he already done had 24 [points],” Moore said, “so he was already hot. I was just trying to make him stay in front of me, make him take a tough shot over a 7-footer. He had just hit one from right there ... and he had been getting to the basket all night too, so if there’s contact it’s a foul....

“He took [the winner] from like three feet behind the three-point line. I feel like I played good defense. He just hit an unbelievable shot.”

The Clippers, who play four of their next five games at Staples Center before venturing out on the road again for their first nine February games, wasted another strong effort from Elton Brand, whose sixth consecutive double-double consisted of 28 points on 12-of-17 shooting and 11 rebounds. Simmons scored 17 points. Quinton Ross, subbing for Maggette, scored 13, as did Chris Kaman.

Lee Nailon scored 22 points for the Hornets, all in the first three quarters. Dickau, who made 10 of 21 shots, also had eight assists.

“We knew that they would have a lot of fight in them,” Brand said of the Hornets. “We saw they beat Sacramento.... We played them in overtime the first time, so we knew that they could play. But we didn’t think we’d lose.”