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Road Is Rough After Comforts of Home

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Times Staff Writer

Winners of their last seven games at Staples Center and losers of their last nine on the road, the Clippers are on pace to set a dubious club record for the widest discrepancy between their home and road winning percentages.

The chasm of 453 percentage points separating their success rate of .667 at home and .214 on the road is the largest in the NBA.

Only the Toronto Raptors come close, with a difference of 407 percentage points. Two seasons ago, the Chicago Bulls were 27-14 at home and 3-38 on the road, a difference of 586 percentage points.

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The Clippers are 20-10 at home, 6-22 on the road. They haven’t won on the road since Feb. 3. They haven’t lost at Staples Center since Jan. 17. They are 11-2 at home since December and 2-19 on the road since November.

They are among 10 teams that have won at least 20 home games. The others all now hold playoff positions. The Clippers are 11th in the West, three games from the conference’s eighth and final playoff spot. They also are among six teams that have won no more than six road games. The other five are almost certainly headed for the draft lottery.

“Some of it may be because we’ve got really young guys,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said after Wednesday’s 101-92 victory over the Dallas Mavericks at Staples Center. “Maybe [playing on the road] affects them. I think more the crowd here energizes them. The surroundings are comfortable.”

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Shaun Livingston, sidelined for more than two weeks, will continue rehabilitating his injured right shoulder for a week or two before deciding on surgery, his agent said Thursday.

“I think everybody just wants to ... see how much progress can be made just by rehabilitating it naturally,” Henry Thomas said. “If it turns out surgery is what’s needed, we’ll get that done.”

The rookie point guard, who suffered torn cartilage in the shoulder Feb. 15, was examined by specialists this week in Chicago and Birmingham, Ala. He was scheduled to have another MRI exam Thursday in Los Angeles.

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