`CLOSE, BUT . . .': A RECURRING CLIPPERS THEME.Byline: Gary Washburn Daily News Staff Writer The Clippers' satchel is jammed full of moral victories. Once again, they fought a more talented team into the fourth quarter, only to lose. In this case, it was a 119-102 loss to the Lakers on Sunday in front of 17,505 at the Forum. They didn't look like one of the worst teams in the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= , but for the 12th time, the Clippers lost. That they put up a good fight didn't matter to the Clippers. They are tired of hearing they played well in defeat. One stretch, an 11-2 Lakers run late in the third quarter, showed the difference between a winner and loser. The Lakers are 11-0 for a reason. It means they have dug out games that were in doubt with those types of runs. The Clippers have held together like that only once. And that Sacramento win seems so long ago. When they had a chance for the kill against the Chicago Bulls The Chicago Bulls are a professional basketball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They play in the National Basketball Association. The team was founded in 1966, and has won six NBA Championships since. on Friday, they fumbled it away. And those same deficiencies that caused the first 11 losses appeared again in the Forum. They were beaten on the boards 45-28, allowing reserves Sean Rooks Sean Lester Rooks (born September 9 1969 in New York City) is a retired American basketball player at the center position in the National Basketball Association. He attended the University of Arizona and was drafted in the second round of the 1992 NBA Draft by the Dallas Mavericks. and Corie Blount Corie Kasoun Blount (born January 4, 1969 in Monrovia, California) is an American former professional basketball player. A 6'9" power forward/center, Blount starred at the University of Cincinnati during the early 1990s, where he helped his team reach the Final Four in 1992 to dominate the inside, mostly with second-chance baskets. That angered coach Bill Fitch William Fitch (born May 19 1934 in Davenport, Iowa) is a former NBA coach who has been successful in making teams playoff contenders throughout his coaching career. Before entering the professional ranks he coached college ball at the University of Minnesota, Bowling Green State . ``When we came back, I actually thought we had a chance to win the ballgame,'' Fitch said. ``But when you just give up getting rebounds and get soft playing defense, you're not going to beat any team in this league.'' It was a game of energy. And when the Clippers got away from pounding the ball inside to Rodney Rogers Rodney Ray Rogers (born June 20, 1971, in Durham, North Carolina) is a retired American basketball player who last played power forward for the NBA's Philadelphia 76ers. Rogers played college basketball at Wake Forest University from 1990 until 1993. (24 points) and Lamond Murray Lamond Maurice Murray (April 20 1973 in Pasadena, California, U.S.) is an American former professional basketball player who last played with the National Basketball Association's New Jersey Nets. (18), they lost it. Kobe Bryant Kobe Bean Bryant (born July 23 1978) is an American All-Star shooting guard in the National Basketball Association (NBA) who plays for the Los Angeles Lakers. and Eddie Jones took over. The Clippers guards had no response. Brent Barry and Eric Piatkowski combined for 3-of-17 shooting, and things are not going well when Rogers leads the team in assists. ``Right now, I don't know Don't know (DK, DKed) "Don't know the trade." A Street expression used whenever one party lacks knowledge of a trade or receives conflicting instructions from the other party. what to say,'' a befuddled Murray said. ``With every loss it gets worse. Maybe we can just get some easy teams and take it out on them. We haven't played any yet.'' The Clippers seem to be about another loss or two from desperation. They just finished a stretch of six straight games against playoff teams and now get some relief. Sacramento comes to the Sports Arena on Wednesday and New Jersey is next on Friday. Fitch had planned to give the team today off and it might well be used for reflection. ``We have to figure out a way to dig ourselves out of this thing,'' Rogers said. ``We're coming close and we should have some more wins. I just think we're falling short with mental mistakes.'' Fitch didn't expect fundamentals to be the Achilles' heel of this team. Boxing out, switching to the right man, not allowing the entry pass have been forgotten. ``When you don't do the little things, it's like boxing with one hand,'' Fitch said. ``We're hurting ourselves and the good teams are going to take advantage of that. (The Lakers) have some real talent over there and they just jumped on us.'' That's what might be the more discouraging point. The Clippers have rarely played four bad quarters. They play two, then two good ones. Or at Miami, they played one horrific one and three good ones. The result: a nine-point loss. But this isn't the CBA See Capital Builder Account. . The Clippers get no credit for outscoring teams in quarters when they're down 20 points. ``I suppose if we had 30 games left, then the season would be over,'' Fitch said. ``But not with 70. You can win your first 30 games, lose the next 52 and be 30-52. It doesn't make any difference. But we have to start winning.'' |
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