[0] NEW LAIR, SAME LAME CLIPPERS : SEATTLE 104, CLIPPERS 92.

Byline: Randy Hill Staff Writer

Lamar Odom, who is to Clippers fans as a rescue plane was to the castaways on ``Gilligan's Island,'' must have felt marooned Tuesday night in his NBA debut.

Teammate and incumbent go-to guy Maurice Taylor rode the bench with foul trouble. To make matters even trickier, there were no picks. No cuts. No appreciable help - and the Clippers defense seemed as primitive as can be.

But even though Odom will be 20 years old Saturday, he wasn't too young to teach the Staples Center crowd (17,874 out of 18,964 seats) a lesson in old-school gamesmanship.

The rookie from Rhode Island finished with 30 points and 12 rebounds, leading the Clippers to a . . . hold on, they lost their season opener 104-92 to the Seattle SuperSonics. Remember, the castaways had trouble bringing it home, too.

``I'm not worried about Lamar Odom's performance,'' said Lamar Odom, already speaking in a third person who probably couldn't guard him, either. ``I'm worried about the Clippers' performance. It's all about team now.''

Thanks to All-Star point guard Gary Payton (22 points, 13 assists) and nuclear sub Vernon Maxwell (29 points), the Sonics certainly looked like the better team.

``We didn't do a very good job on perimeter defense,'' said coach Chris Ford, who was sentenced to explain the obvious in a typical postgame press chat. ``We couldn't dig ourselves out of the hole.''

Throwing on his share of dirt was Maxwell, who scored 18 points in the second quarter, during which Seattle outscored the Clippers 37-26 for a 62-48 halftime advantage. Taylor, who finished with 14 points, three rebounds and six fouls for the Clippers in 26 minutes, had picked up four personals by then.

``With the new rules, I have to be more disciplined,'' Taylor said. ``It was just a bad game all around for us.''

And now, the evidence:

Seattle held a 53-45 edge on the boards. The Clippers did hold the Sonics to 37.5 percent marksmanship from the field (the Clips shot at a 45-percent rate) but forced only 11 turnovers. OK, so the stats weren't that revealing, but Odom knew where to look for clues.

``Gary Payton,'' Odom explained. ``He controlled the tempo of the game.''

The Clips didn't have enough dance steps to keep pace.

New Clipper Derek Anderson contributed what could be described as a quiet 19 points, Michael Olowokandi had a game-high 16 rebounds and Tyrone Nesby supplied his typical juice off the bench (16).

CAPTION(S):

photo, 2 boxes

PHOTO The Clippers' Maurice Taylor, shown driving past Horace Grant in the first half, wasn't much help in the second half, when he sat in foul trouble.

David Crane/Staff Photographer

BOX: (1) Game recap

(2) Clippers vs. Portland (see text)