Clippers answer the call this time

Now Al Thornton can turn on his phone again. Baron Davis can stop having Golden State flashbacks. And the Clippers can be spared a marathon film session by producer/Coach Mike Dunleavy today at their Playa Vista HQ.

All it took was a 103-92 victory over Dallas on Sunday afternoon at Staples Center behind 22 points and 10 assists from Davis and 17 points from Thornton, ensuring that the Clippers won’t be the last team in the NBA to win a game.

(Washington, 0-5, will hold that most dubious distinction.)

But the drought had been considerable, and concerning, to the Clippers. This was their first win in 221 days -- yes, of course, that does include the off-season -- but it had hit 13 straight losses, if you count the final seven from last season.

“Any time you haven’t won anything, you’ve got a monkey on your back that has grown into a gorilla,” Dunleavy said. “So it’s nice to get that off and now we need to start a streak going the other way.”

Said Marcus Camby, who had 14 rebounds in 31 minutes: “That monkey off our back feels real good. At times, it was looking scary.”

A cliche, yes. But also fitting.

When Camby said “scary,” he was talking about the fourth quarter, not the losing streak.

But he could have been speaking about the six losses to open the season too.

An inability to close has been the Clippers’ trademark, and it was looming again with three straight turnovers in the fourth quarter, allowing Dallas to tie the score, 79-79, on Jason Terry’s 18-foot jumper.

The Clippers promptly went on a 13-0 run, starting with 8:05 remaining, to lead, 92-79, with 5:23 left. This time, the run was on the other foot.

“We’re still a work in progress,” said Davis, who suffered through an 0-6 start last season with Golden State. “We’re still a team that’s trying to form our identity.”

That begins with the point guard and the coach.

“A lot of times it’s on the coach to manage the flow of the game as well as the point guard out there,” Davis said. “And I think the more time this team spends together and the games we get under our belt, I think myself and Coach Dunleavy will definitely be more and more on the same page.

“That was just a great night. He did a great job coaching and managing the game from the sidelines.”

Luckily for the Clippers, Dallas is also on an identity search mission and looked especially dysfunctional with the exception of Dirk Nowitzki, who scored a game-high 33 points.

“I don’t want to take anything away from Dallas, but I don’t think they’re on the same level as the Lakers or the Jazz,” said Clippers center Chris Kaman, a teammate of Nowitzki’s on Germany’s Olympic team this summer. “Right now, they have the potential, but they’re just not there yet.

“I talked to Dirk yesterday and he was saying they’re not playing together. They’re not playing the right way. And we’ve had the same problem.”

It’s been weighing heavily on the Clippers. Thornton, who scored eight of his 17 points in the fourth quarter, was the picture of abject frustration after Friday’s loss to Houston.

“I’ve never lost this much at anything, at the very start,” Thornton said Sunday. “I just want to stay home and watch the game over and over. I turn the phone off. My girlfriend can’t get ahold of me.

“I’m going to talk to her a little bit more now.”

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lisa.dillman@latimes.com