Clippers accept but are not content with 4-2 trip

This is a different Clippers team, one that’s not satisfied just because they had a winning record on a just-completed trip.

They expected and wanted more.

But in the end, the Clippers concluded a six-game, 11-day trip with a 4-2 record, their best mark since the 2005-06 season.

“I’ve got to accept it because it’s over and done with,” Chris Paul said after Tuesday night’s loss in Dallas. “But that’s tough. The Cleveland one, that was on us. I felt like that was on me. We didn’t come out with the firepower. This one here [to Dallas], this was a winnable game for us.

“So it’s a good trip for us, but it could have been a great one. But it is what it is now. We’ve got to go back home and take care of…”

Paul didn’t finish the sentence, pausing for a few seconds.

“We could have won this whole trip out,” he said, smiling.

The Clippers won the first two games, against the Washington Wizards and Orlando Magic.

Chauncey Billups was hurt during the Orlando game, suffering a season-ending torn left Achilles’ tendon.

Then the Clippers went to Cleveland and put in a lackluster effort, losing to a Cavaliers team that was playing without prized rookie Kyrie Irving.

The Clippers responded with an impressive victory over the Philadelphia 76ers and a win over Charlotte before the last-second loss to Dallas.

“You look back at it, we feel like we gave one away in Cleveland,” Mo Williams said. “We win that game, this loss to Dallas wouldn’t hurt. We go home 5-1 and then if we make the shot by Caron [Butler], we have a chance to go home 6-0. We didn’t show up in Cleveland and we fought here” in Dallas.

The Clippers have forged a winning record on only three of their 34 six-game trips since the 1984-85 season.

They went 5-3 on an eight-game trip during the 1989-90 season and 4-2 on a six-game trip during the 2005-06 season, the last time the Clippers reached the playoffs.

The Clippers are 7-6 on the road this season.

“I think a lot of people questioned whether we could win on the road,” Blake Griffin said. “We did win on the road. Unfortunately we felt like in Cleveland, we gave the game away. Nothing against Cleveland. They played well. But we felt like we just didn’t play start to finish.”

Good start to season

At 17-9, the Clippers are off to the second-best start through 26 games in franchise history. Only the 1974-75 Buffalo Braves had a better start at 18-8.

The Clippers have the third-best record in the NBA’s Western Conference.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

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