Clippers let it slip away to Hornets

The final remnants of the Clippers’ surprising 4-0 start skedaddled Saturday, slipping away like sand through fingers in a 98-89 loss to the New Orleans Hornets at Staples Center in front of 15,601.

The Clippers are 6-6, having lost six of their last eight games. They are over the hump in a tough stretch to end the first month of the season with games remaining against the Houston Rockets at Staples Center on Monday and the Nuggets in Denver on Friday.

There is a glimmer of relief on the horizon.

The team can get healthy soon -- or as hypothetically healed as it can for now -- with the short-term prognosis of Corey Maggette, its leading scorer, and Brevin Knight, each sidelined because of minor injuries, looking positive.

And the Clippers open December with five of their eight initial opponents buried in last or second to last in their respective divisions.

“I look at how we play and at the talent level we are playing against,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “Tonight, this was a team that was in our range and we need to play better.”

The numbers certainly stacked in the Clippers’ favor against New Orleans.

Versatile point guard Chris Paul did not score his first field goal for the Hornets until late in the second quarter.

And Tyson Chandler, averaging 10.9 rebounds per game, did not collect his first rebound until midway through the third quarter.

So what happened?

The Hornets nullified double-doubles from Chris Kaman and Tim Thomas by distributing the ball with an even-scoring attack.

Peja Stojakovic scored a game-high 22 points and made three three-point baskets, and Paul had 11 points and 10 assists to help New Orleans end a three-game losing streak.

“They’ve got a lot of guys that can make shots,” Dunleavy said. “When they get a mix of low-post game to go with their game, they are pretty good. They’ve got a couple guys that can get on a major roll as far as stroking it.”

Coach Byron Scott said New Orleans’ game plan was to pack its defense inside the paint.

“You’ve got to take your chances,” Scott said. “The percentage is a whole lot better in the paint than it is at the three-point line.”

The Clippers’ frontline of Thomas and Kaman totaled 31 points and 24 rebounds, and Cuttino Mobley made a team-high 20 points.

The Clippers closed the gap to five points with a spirited 10-0 run in the fourth quarter but sputtered near the finish line.

Stojakovic made a three-point basket with 1.6 seconds remaining to give the Hornets a 55-48 halftime lead. David West scored 11 points in the half, and Melvin Ely came off the bench to score nine.

Kaman scored seven of the Clipper’s first nine points. He picked up his second foul at 7 minutes 9 seconds in the first quarter, pounding his fist at the scorer’s table when he was pulled from the game, the thud resonating loudly throughout the arena.

Afterward, he bemoaned the team’s 15 turnovers and the need to respond.

“We keep talking about it, but we need to start doing something about it,” he said. “We keep shooting ourselves in the foot.”

As they look to creep back into the win column, they attempt to do so against Houston, also a team in a recent funk.

“You are going to have your ups and downs for the most part,” Thomas said. “We need to keep fighting and not worry about what happened early in the season.”

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com