Martin, Clippers Haven’t Quite Fallen Into Can’t-Miss Category

Darrick Martin, the Clippers’ best free-throw shooter at 93.8%, missed two free throws at the worst possible time as the Clippers lost for the sixth time in seven games Thursday night.

With the Clippers trailing the Milwaukee Bucks by four points, Martin missed two free throws with 40.8 seconds left and the Bucks went on to win, 102-94, before 4,300 at the Sports Arena.

“That won’t happen again,” said Martin, who made six of eight free throws. “If I had to go to Vegas, that would be a safe bet. It probably would have put us over the top and got us going, but it won’t happen again.”

Clipper forward Lamond Murray, moved into the starting lineup because of Loy Vaught’s foot injury, won’t return to the bench if he continues to play the way he did offensively against the Bucks.

Murray had a team-high 25 points, though he did have a difficult time checking Glenn Robinson, who had 32 points.

“If I wasn’t starting, that’s the way I want to play,” said Murray, who made 10 of 13 shots, including two three-point baskets.

The Clippers, who trailed by 18 points at halftime, shot 66.7% in the third quarter to trail, 80-71, going into the final quarter.

Lorenzen Wright, who started 51 games at center last season, helped spark the comeback after he took over in the third quarter for Stojko Vrankovic, who had only two points and two rebounds in 12 minutes.

Wright had a team-best four rebounds, four points and two steals in the third quarter to help the Clippers get back into the game.

“Wright really got us going on both ends of the floor,” Martin said of Wright, who had eight points and a team-high nine rebounds.

Wright said he was trying to give the Clippers a boost.

“I knew we weren’t playing good defense [in the first half], so I just wanted to come in and give us a spark on the defensive end, so that started us to playing well.”

The Clippers cut it to 90-87 when Eric Piatkowski made a three-point shot with 3:49 remaining, but the Bucks scored five consecutive points before Coach Bill Fitch called timeout out with 1:57 left.

“When we got it to 90-87 we shot ourselves in the foot,” Fitch said.

The Clippers scored four points to pull within 95-91, but Martin missed his two free throws.

Guard Brent Barry, who averaged a team-high 18.7 points in the Clippers’ first six games, had his worst game of the season, missing six of eight shots and getting only five points, three rebounds and one assist in 26 foul-plagued minutes.

Although the Clippers are off to their worst start since losing their first 16 games in 1994-95, Fitch said he’s not about to panic.

“Sometimes you learn the hard way,” Fitch said. “I think we’re still coming together. We’ve got four new guys that we’re fitting into important spots and I just think it takes a while.

“Chemistry is a real fractured thing in this day and age. You’ve got to get it all together if you’re going to beat some of these teams. We’re not going to roll over and play dead. We’ll get better.”

The Bucks came into the game with the NBA’s best shooting percentage--50.5.

“They were the only undefeated team in the exhibition season,” Fitch said of the Bucks, who beat the Clippers, 109-97, in an exhibition game.

The Bucks, who led by as many as 21 points in the second quarter, shot 52.4% in the first half in taking a 58-40 lead.

Robinson had 19 points while Ray Allen had 17 of his 23 points in the first half.

The Clippers missed 15 of 21 shots in the second quarter.