Clippers lose in over-the-line

In the stretch of a tight, tense playoff race, the Clippers sure would appreciate a few good breaks.

The Clippers didn’t get one it appeared they should have in the closing seconds Wednesday night against the Houston Rockets, and left the court frustrated after a 92-87 loss in front of 18,605 at Staples Center.

Trailing, 90-87, with 2.5 seconds to play, Cuttino Mobley was fouled while attempting to shoot behind the three-point arc. But the officials awarded Mobley only two free throws, ruling his feet were not behind the line.

TV replays, however, seemed to indicate that Mobley should have shot three free throws. Upset about the sequence of events, Mobley missed the first shot. He missed the second intentionally for the Clippers to have a shot at the rebound, and the team’s winning streak ended at four games.

“The replays showed, no question, it was a three-point shot,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “He was behind the line. It’s a bang-bang play, it’s a tough play for the referees to call. Unfortunately, they didn’t get it right.”

That seemed evident to everyone in the Clippers’ locker room.

“Yeah, they missed it, but what can you do about it except say something and get fined?” Tim Thomas said. “I was standing right there, I saw he was way behind the line, the replay showed it too, but ... they’re the police out there. They make the calls. It’s like almost getting robbed. You really can’t do anything about it, you just deal with it, but it is frustrating.”

In addition to preventing the Clippers (34-37) from equaling their longest winning streak of the season, the loss also cut their lead to 1 1/2 games over the Golden State Warriors for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western Conference.

The Clippers again played well in stretches while pushing the playoff-bound Rockets (46-26), getting another big-game performance from Elton Brand (24 points, five blocked shots), which helped to compensate for another disappearing act from Chris Kaman.

Kaman scored only four points and grabbed two rebounds in 17 minutes. Houston’s Yao Ming had 24 points and 15 rebounds. Because of Kaman’s ineffectiveness, the 6-foot-8 Brand guarded the 7-6 Yao for most of the second half.

Following a disturbing pattern for them this season, the Clippers continued to perform poorly on offense in the third quarter. They were outscored, 28-12, in the third, shooting only 27.8%.

Tracy McGrady scored 10 of his game-high 27 points in the third, including eight of Houston’s final 10 in an 18-2 quarter-closing run. The Rockets turned a 49-42 halftime deficit into a 70-61 lead to start the fourth.

“The first half, we were a little bit shaky, but we shut them down in the third,” McGrady said. “We held them to 12 points, and that’s what got us back in the game.”

The Clippers fought back behind Brand.

His reverse layup with 6:49 remaining capped a 13-2 run and gave the Clippers a 74-72 lead. The Rockets then used an 11-2 run to go ahead, 83-76, on McGrady’s jumper with 3:29 to go.

Shane Battier’s three-pointer with 53.2 seconds left gave Houston the lead for good, 88-87. Corey Maggette missed a runner off of a curl play with about 43 seconds to play in the game.

“It was a good play, I put that on myself,” said Maggette, who missed 12 of 15 shots. “It could have been different if I just made a few more shots.”

On the game’s controversial play, Jason Hart inbounded the ball from the sideline with 4.1 remaining. Mobley caught the ball on the left side of the three-point arc, began his shooting motion and was fouled by Rafer Alston.

“I have no idea if it was the right or wrong call,” Houston Coach Jeff Van Gundy said. “He missed the first one, anyway, so it’s really a moot point.”

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jason.reid@latimes.com

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KEYS TO THE GAME

* The 1-2 punch of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. McGrady had a game-high 27 points and eight assists, and Yao scored 24 and grabbed 15 rebounds.

* The Clippers’ poor third quarter. They were outscored, 28-12, and shot only 27.8% from the field.

* The officials. It appeared they should have awarded Cuttino Mobley three free throws instead of two in the game’s final seconds.

--JASON REID