Clippers Have a Host of Issues

The Clippers are in trouble and help isn’t on the horizon.

They’re playing short-handed because of injuries, are laboring on offense and seem confused on defense, all of which was evident again Saturday night in a 111-92 loss to the Boston Celtics at Staples Center.

The Clippers lost for the seventh time in nine games and dropped 2 1/2 games behind the Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division after their second consecutive troubling performance on their home court.

The Sacramento Kings on Tuesday routed the Clippers, 110-93, and the Celtics also made a big impression on their hosts while ending a three-game losing streak. Boston took control in the second quarter, outscoring the Clippers, 33-15, en route to an 18-point halftime lead.

The Celtics shot 56.6% from the field against the Clippers, who rank first in the NBA in opponent field-goal percentage. Guard Ricky Davis scored 20 points to lead six players in double figures, and Boston reserves outscored their Clipper counterparts, 38-8.

After a 14-5 start, the Clippers (16-12) are trying to hold things together while waiting for the return of starting small forward Corey Maggette, backup center Zeljko Rebraca and backup swingman Quinton Ross.

The Clippers aren’t sure when the three key players will rejoin them, and now they have more reason for concern.

“Yeah, you could say it’s pretty tough right now,” said point guard Sam Cassell, who scored 24 points. “You could definitely say that, but it’s not going to get easier, so we’ve got to find a way. No one is going to have any pity on us. The schedule is what it is.”

And this was supposed to be a fun stretch for the Clippers, who are playing nine of 11 games on their home court.

The most recent two, however, didn’t turn out well for them.

On Saturday, Boston (12-17) overwhelmed the Clippers in the second quarter, shooting 60.9%. The Celtics seemed to get whatever shots they wanted, and the Clippers got booed.

“We had a stretch of our game where we were a little bit out of control in the sense of what we needed to do,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “The second quarter defensively, I just thought we were terrible. We made so many mistakes.”

Despite their problems, the Clippers pulled within 10 points, 91-81, with nine minutes remaining in the game behind guard Cuttino Mobley, who had 27 points, matching a season high.

But the Clippers squandered several open-court opportunities from there, and the Celtics pulled away.

“We got into the open court and we didn’t finish,” Dunleavy said. “We had to have five opportunity breaks that we didn’t finish on. We casually put the ball up, kind of like we were hoping for the ball to go in.

“We went in too soft. You can’t do that. You have to force the issue. You’ve got to attack. That’s something we had done so well to begin this year.”

With such a favorable schedule, the Clippers figured they might be able to open a comfortable lead in the division. But with Maggette, Rebraca and Ross still out, the Clippers have re-evaluated their short-term goals.

“We definitely need to get those guys back,” Cassell said. “We can’t think about doing anything else but just trying to keep it together until we get our guys back. We’re missing Corey, who’s a big part of this team. He takes a lot of the pressure off of everyone offensively.

“We’re missing Z [Rebraca] and everything he does off the bench, and we’re missing Q. Ross and his defense. That’s a whole lot.”

The Clippers’ margin for error seems to shrink by the minute.

“It’s definitely smaller,” said forward Elton Brand, who struggled in an uncharacteristic 11-point, five-rebound performance. “Not having the bodies we thought we would have hurts. Every team deals with injuries ... but to have Corey go down, to have Q. Ross go down and we haven’t had Z in a while ... it’s definitely frustrating.”

Of course, that’s life in the NBA.

“We just have to get through it,” Dunleavy said. “That’s all we can do.”