Clippers continue drifting aimlessly

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Teams that perform as poorly on the road as the Clippers have this season rarely qualify for the playoffs, and the Clippers on Sunday moved closer to beginning vacation after a 101-95 loss to the New Jersey Nets in front of 15,050 at Continental Airlines Arena.

The Clippers again did just enough to lose on the road, dropping to 1-3 on a supposedly make-or-break trip with two games left. The Clippers (30-36) are 9-24 as a visiting team, and things seem to go wrong for them whenever they leave Staples Center.

Officiating was the Clippers’ hot-button topic after Sunday’s loss, especially the treatment Elton Brand received from the crew of Dan Crawford, Jack Nies and Courtney Kirkland.

Brand shot only two free throws (he made one) during a 39-minute, 17-point, nine-rebound, six-assist performance. He went to the line for the only time with 8 minutes 54 seconds left in the fourth quarter.

Conversely, journeyman forward Mikki Moore was nine for 13 as the Nets shot 39 free throws to 23 for the Clippers.

“Mikki Moore is going to the line nine for 13? Elton Brand is going to the line one for two?” said Cuttino Mobley, who scored a game-high 27 points and made five of nine three-point shots.

“They’re stripping him clean? Right. Whatever.”

Said Brand: “It has to be a two-way street.”

The Clippers intentionally fouled the Nets late in the fourth quarter in an effort to stop the clock and rally, but they focused on Brand’s individual situation.

“E.B. is an established All-Star in this league,” said Corey Maggette, who had 23 points, nine rebounds and seven turnovers. “I guess it just didn’t go his way.”

Coach Mike Dunleavy directed many thinly veiled comments at the officials, sarcastically suggesting it might be time for Brand to consider retirement because “he’s obviously not good enough anymore” for calls to go in his favor.

“He no longer can get to the free-throw line. He must not have any kind of game, because every other star in this league gets to the free-throw line,” Dunleavy said. “Since he can’t get there anymore, maybe he’s lost his game, I don’t know, but that was a big part of” Sunday’s loss.

“As many times as he touches the ball, he’s got to get to the free-throw line more for us. He has to be that assertive guy. Maybe he has just lost his game.”

Of course, the officials weren’t responsible for the 18 Clippers turnovers that produced 23 points for the Nets.

And the officials didn’t impede the shooting of Chris Kaman, who missed seven of 10 shots, most a few feet from the basket.

With 16 games left, the Clippers trail Golden State by one game for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference, and that’s definitely not the fault of the referees.

“Every game is incredibly important,” Dunleavy said.

For the Nets too.

Star point guard Jason Kidd had 23 points, 13 assists and six steals for New Jersey (31-36), which is among the Eastern Conference’s top eight.

Vince Carter contributed 22 points and Richard Jefferson had 18 points and 12 rebounds. Kidd, Carter and Jefferson combined for 18 free throws.

“Elton obviously doesn’t get fouled when he goes to the rim,” Dunleavy said. “His contention is that he gets fouled, but I have to believe the referees. That’s all I have to go on.

“I have to believe the referees that he’s not getting pushed down low, that people aren’t coming over his back, that he’s not getting fouled and they’re all good plays.

“We’re going to have to work with him in the off-season.”

jason.reid@latimes.com