Clippers Roll Over on Road

An upcoming road swing that already loomed ominously over the Clipper season looks even more foreboding this morning.

Still hoping to make a playoff run, they’ve lost six consecutive road games and 10 of 11 after squandering a 12-point third-quarter lead Friday night and losing to the Portland Trail Blazers, 90-86, in front of 16,063 in the Rose Garden.

“We’re just not playing smart basketball; that’s what it boils down to,” said Elton Brand, whose ninth consecutive double-double was wasted. “We had a nice lead, felt like we could go somewhere with it. But we didn’t. We couldn’t.”

The Clippers, who play the Golden State Warriors tonight and the New York Knicks on Monday at Staples Center before opening an eight-game trip Thursday at Memphis, have lost their last five road games despite leading at halftime.

They’ve lost their last 12 games in Portland and 24 of 25 since February 1993 after the Trail Blazers outscored them, 46-30, over the last 19 1/2 minutes.

The Trail Blazers, who’d lost seven of eight and 13 of 16, outshot them in the second half, 51.2% to 38.9%, and outrebounded them, 25-15.

“In the second half ... we just didn’t bring it,” Clipper guard Rick Brunson said. “They got to loose balls and we played their game, run and gun.”

Damon Stoudamire scored 18 of his 22 points in the second half, among them four free throws in the last 13 seconds, to lead the Trail Blazer rally. Ruben Patterson scored 17 points for the Trail Blazers, Zach Randolph 13.

Theo Ratliff, who matched a Trail Blazer record when he blocked nine shots in a November victory over the Clippers, blocked seven Friday, four in the fourth quarter. Twice in three seconds midway through the quarter he blocked layups by Bobby Simmons, leading to a driving, twisting layup by rookie Sebastian Telfair that sparked an 8-2 run that put the Trail Blazers ahead to stay.

“Sometimes, we don’t think,” Brunson said. “When you go in there and he’s jumping around, you might have to dish it to another man or you might have to draw the foul.”

Joel Przybilla, the Trail Blazers’ center, had four blocks.

“We’ve got to be smarter than that,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We’ve seen it before; we know what they can do. You have to shoot the ball right away; you can’t go in with the spins. They’re going to be there. I believe that they’ll be there, and our guys have got to understand that better.”

Brand scored 17 of his 26 points in the second half and also led the Clippers with 12 rebounds. Simmons scored 16 points but missed 19 of 26 shots.

Maggette and Marko Jaric, their playing time limited since their return to the lineup this week, combined for 17 points, Jaric also finishing with nine assists in 26 minutes and Maggette making four of six shots in 25 minutes.

Afterward, they shared an ice chest, Maggette soaking his left foot, Jaric his right.

“We wasted one victory that was supposed to be crucial to us,” Jaric said. “It’s really disappointing because we wasted a lead in a game that is very important.”

The Clippers, after starting the week with victories over the Dallas Mavericks on Monday and the Lakers on Wednesday, had put their recent five-game losing streak behind them and started talking again about a playoff run.

The Trail Blazers, meanwhile, seem to be on the verge of imploding. They suspended Darius Miles for two games on Friday after the former Clipper directed a racial epithet at Coach Maurice Cheeks during a Thursday film session.

Przybilla broke free for a layup to score the game’s first points, but the Trail Blazers missed their next six shots. They missed 14 of their first 18 but still led midway through the first quarter, 10-7. They continued to misfire and at halftime the Clippers led, 48-40, even though Brand and Simmons had missed a combined 17 of 23 shots.

“We just missed a lot of easy shots, shots that we usually make,” Brunson said. “We should have gone into halftime up 16 or 18. That’s what cost us.”

The second half didn’t help.