Clippers lose this battle royal to Sacramento, 105-99

Reporting from Sacramento

The signs were carefully, almost lovingly, arranged in strategic, TV-friendly positions throughout the arena before the Clippers-Kings game here Monday night.

DON’T BE L.A.! BEAT L.A.!

The Kings took care of the latter command, beating the Clippers, 105-99, at Arco Arena, ruining the debut of the two newest Clippers, point guard Mo Williams and small forward Jamario Moon.

Here, though, the focal points were the three Kings and co-owners, the brothers Maloof, sitting in the front row across from the Sacramento bench, looking happier and more engaged as the game progressed.

Back to the first command. Being L.A., of course, is not the same as being Orange County, but who is going to quibble with details? And, besides, being Orange County or Anaheim doesn’t have the same fierce tone.

Depending on who is talking, the Kings have one foot out of town, both feet in Anaheim or are going to put off a relocation decision until next year.

Joe Maloof was interviewed by local television at halftime and the session didn’t even last much longer than a fast-break.

Reporter: “Is it too late?”

And that was that.

Civic boosters and die-hard fan groups put plenty of emotional energy into this particular game, hoping to play the nostalgia card with the owners, pushing hard to boost attendance. There were some empty seats up high in the arena but the announced crowd was a sellout of 17,317, the second of the season.

Volunteers were outside the arena passing out flyers, detailing specific chants to be delivered at key junctures.

“This has got everybody pumped up,” said Sacramento native Blake Ellington of the local group Here We Stay. “The news goes up and down with what comes out in the media about what the Maloofs are thinking. They are here tonight and that was our main goal to get everybody here in the building.

“All three of them [the Maloofs] are here, and that’s rare for all of them to be here at the same time.”

The Maloof brothers, Joe, Gavin and George, celebrated the victory and accepted congratulations from those around them in what was the last game in which the arena will be called Arco Arena.

Starting Tuesday, the venue will be called the Power Balance Pavilion. The words Arco Arena already have been taken off the building.

For the Kings, it was about as close to a playoff-type feel, considering they have only won 15 games this season. The Clippers (21-40) crumbled in the fourth quarter with seven turnovers, a typical occurrence on the road, as they have won five games away from home.

They went about five minutes without a field goal in the fourth quarter. Blake Griffin had his 51st double-double of the season, with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Randy Foye added 23 points and Chris Kaman had 12 points off the bench.

Williams, acquired from Cleveland at the trade deadline, was seven for 18 from the field for 16 points and added five assists. He turned his ankle in the third quarter and had to have it re-taped.

“It wasn’t at 100% already,” he said. “I felt good. Obviously, [the ankle] held me back a little bit. After that point, I was just playing off guts. I couldn’t move how I wanted to, couldn’t defend how I wanted to. I couldn’t do things offensively how I wanted to. I had to settle for a lot of jumpers because I couldn’t really move.”

lisa.dillman@latimes.com

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