Home No Shelter for Clippers

The home court was no advantage, the crowd no factor.

The Clippers’ seven-game Staples Center winning streak came to a screaming halt Saturday night when, in arguably their most important game of the season, they laid an egg against the Denver Nuggets.

Led by former Clipper Earl Boykins, who scored a game-high 22 points in 22 minutes, four Nugget reserves scored in double figures and the visitors extended their winning streak to six games with a 105-89 victory in front of 18,423.

The Clippers hadn’t lost at home in more than six weeks and hadn’t lost so one-sidedly at Staples Center since New Year’s Eve.

But the Nuggets, who made nearly 50% of their shots, built a 15-point lead in the second quarter and coasted from there, moving four games ahead of the 11th-place Clippers in the race for the Western Conference’s final playoff berth. The Clippers also trail the Lakers by four games, the Minnesota Timberwolves by three.

Still, passion seemed to be lacking in their game Saturday.

“At times, I felt like we hung our heads after the ball wasn’t going in the basket for us,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “I thought when our guys didn’t make shots, we didn’t play as hard at times, or smart.... We just didn’t do a very good job all the way around. It’s very disappointing. I’m very surprised.”

The Nuggets, unbeaten since the All-Star break and 13-4 under new Coach George Karl, outscored the Clippers in all but the third quarter.

Carmelo Anthony scored 21 points on nine-of-14 shooting. Marcus Camby had 14 points and 12 rebounds. Reserves Eduardo Najera, Bryon Russell and Wesley Person scored 13, 11 and 10 points, respectively.

“Their bench came in and gave them a huge lift,” Dunleavy said of the Nugget reserves, who combined for 58 points on 57% shooting. “They really hurt us.”

Bobby Simmons led the Clippers with 18 points, making seven of 11 shots after missing his first six. Elton Brand had 17 points and 10 rebounds. Chris Kaman scored 13 points and Corey Maggette scored 10, though he missed 11 of 14 shots.

The Clippers, who before last week had not won seven consecutive home games since the 1996-97 season, had not lost in Staples Center since Jan. 17, helping to at least partially offset a 1-13 road record over the same period.

“The first step of a team really maturing and becoming good is that they will start winning home games,” Dunleavy said before the game. “If you’ve got a good crowd, it can really help you out a lot.”

The Nuggets, 102-98 losers to the Clippers on Jan. 3 at Denver, are one of only two teams the Clippers have defeated in their last 21 road games.

But they have turned their season around since hiring Karl in late January, shooting past the Clippers and Timberwolves in the playoff race.

“They’re defending better,” Dunleavy said of the Nuggets. “They’ve scoring more points. I think just overall they’re playing better as a group....

“They’ve hit a good stride.”

The Nuggets didn’t hit their stride Saturday until after the Clippers, despite missing 13 of their first 17 shots, had opened a 20-16 lead.

The Nuggets ended the first quarter with a 7-0 run that included a three-point basket by Person, a preview of what was to come. Person made another three-point shot early in the second quarter and Russell made three in three consecutive possessions, helping the Nuggets stretch their lead to 15 points.

They led at halftime, 59-46, after making 51.2% of their shots, five of seven from beyond the three-point arc, and led by as many as 20 points in the second half.