Clippers don’t have enough

He slides into thigh pads first, then puts on padding to protect his lower back. Already applied are the bandages around his knee designed to increase circulation.

Corey Maggette readies himself for basketball, but it seems as if a football game is more likely on the horizon.

It’s all to protect a body too used to picking up aches and pains amid a season where another individually solid performance is slowly, but surely, slipping by the wayside.

The Clippers were again trounced, 116-100, by the Golden State Warriors on Wednesday at Staples Center.

Al Thornton continued his solid second-half uptick, pacing them with 24 points, and resurfacing from a dormant first half to score 19 of them in the final two quarters.

He had career highs of 45 minutes played, 13 rebounds and 12 made free throws.

Maggette, again, did his part in adding 21 points. But he made only 11 of 19 free throws.

The Clippers, collectively, proved helpless in stopping Stephen Jackson’s perimeter shooting and hapless in ending Monta Ellis’ drives through the lane.

Jackson scored 29 points and made five three-point shots, four in the first quarter alone. Ellis scorched them for 28 points, the majority coming on layups.

And it’s never a good sign when the opposing team takes a timeout to stop a team’s momentum when they are already up by 16, as the Warriors did, leading, 57-41, in the second quarter.

They improved to 42-25, pushing their eighth-slot playoff lead to 2 1/2 games over the Denver Nuggets in the Western Conference.

In winning for the first time in eight tries against the Clippers here, they handed them their fifth straight loss and 13th in 15 games.

The lone wins for the Clippers (21-46) in that desolate stretch? An overtime win against the Sacramento Kings and a one-point win over the Miami Heat.

All frustrating signs of struggle for Maggette, the longest-tenured Clipper who, along with Elton Brand, can opt out of his contract at season’s end.

“Guys are injured and you’re losing,” he said. “All I can do at the end of the day is try to take care of stuff and play as hard as I can. That’s all the control I have as a player.”

To further drive home his point, the Clippers played the Warriors where the numbers truly reflect some woes.

The Clippers starters on a healthy roster would include Maggette, Brand, Shaun Livingston, Cuttino Mobley and Chris Kaman. Combined they have missed 161 games.

The Warriors starters have missed a grand total of 23 this season, seven of those because of Jackson’s suspension to start the year.

And although he has played in most of the games, Maggette has gritted his teeth through more than a few.

“I’ve got nicks and bruises,” he said. “I’ve got two bruised knees, but they are all right. Just got to tough it out and go play.”

The Clippers narrowed their deficit to 11 points early in the fourth quarter, but never got closer than that margin.

“They score points, there’s no question about it,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said of the Warriors. “They have the ability to stroke the ball from range.”

Maggette has scored at least 20 points in 28 of the last 32 games, bumping his average to a career-high 22.4 points.

He plans to opt out of his contract at season’s end to test free-agency waters.

“I’ve seen the good, the bad and the ugly here,” Maggette said recently. “It’s starting to get ugly again.”

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com