Clipper Loss Is Hard to Fathom

The clock struck 7:31 on the Staples Center scoreboard and suddenly the Clippers turned into the Gang that Couldn’t Shoot Straight in the third quarter against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Actually, it was worse than missed shots and free throws.

The Clippers couldn’t shoot, couldn’t score and couldn’t defend en route to a desultory 83-75 loss Tuesday before a sellout crowd of 19,607.

In the end, it wasn’t so much what the 76ers did to the Clippers, but what the Clippers did to themselves while tumbling into last place in the Pacific Division with a 12-19 record..

The Clippers got one basket (on power forward Elton Brand’s breakaway dunk) and one free throw (also from Brand) in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the third quarter.

They also gave up the first two baskets of the fourth quarter, turning a 51-40 lead into a 64-54 deficit.

The Clippers’ four-for-23 shooting (17.4%) in the pivotal third quarter doomed them to their third consecutive loss while energizing a 76er team that seemed to be content to sleepwalk through most of the game. The 76ers’ seven-for-24 shooting in the third quarter should have propelled the Clippers to a victory, but it did not.

Philadelphia’s 14-for-16 shooting from the free-throw line enabled the 76ers to outscore the Clippers, 29-13, in the third quarter.

Center Michael Olowokandi called it “a very difficult loss,” adding, “It’s gut-check time. The season could very easily go one way or the other.”

Instead of getting mired in the paint Tuesday, as they had while getting double- and triple-teamed during losses Saturday against the Golden State Warriors and Friday against the Phoenix Suns, Olowokandi and Brand found plenty of room to work in the first half.

Olowokandi scored 10 points with seven rebounds and four blocks in 22 minutes in the first half. Brand added 13 points and six rebounds in 21 minutes.

Leading, 41-31, at halftime, the Clippers seemed poised to run away with the game. They had held Allen Iverson to 12 points and, better still, had neutralized the other 76er threats.

But Olowokandi missed three of four shots and Brand six of seven in the third quarter.

Philadelphia surged, the Clippers wilted, then surged back to take a 71-70 lead on Corey Maggette’s thunderous dunk off a lob pass from Andre Miller, then faded one final time.

“It’s like we’re two different teams,” Coach Alvin Gentry said.

“I don’t have an answer. I wish I did have an answer.”

Olowokandi had 13 points, 12 rebounds and five blocks by game’s end, but missed 12 of 18 shots. Brand had 21 points, 13 rebounds, four assists and four blocks, but missed 10 of 18 shots and eight of 13 free throws.

Iverson led Philadelphia with 27 points on 10-for-22 shooting. Keith Van Horn added 19, including 13 in the second half.

“We did a much better job on Olowokandi and Brand in the second half,” 76er Coach Larry Brown said. “I thought we defended and rebounded so much better. I think we made them work harder. They’re so athletic. They don’t have [Marko] Jaric and [Eric] Piatkowski [because of injuries]. But I really like their team. They play so hard. They just couldn’t make shots tonight.”

The 76ers outshot the Clippers by the smallest of margins, 36.5% to 34.9%, but by a much wider 83.3% to 53.6% at the free-throw line. Brand’s misses were the most significant.

“I try to go up and shoot them the same way every time,” said Brand, a 71.7% shooter from the line and the Clippers’ leading scorer and rebounder. “I’ll take this one to the chin. I had shots and I missed them. I had free throws and I missed them. They pressured us more in the second half, but we shouldn’t let that rattle us.”