BARRY, DEHERE HARDLY ENOUGH IN CLIPPERS LOSS.

Byline: Scott Wolf Daily News Staff Writer

There were career highs in the backcourt and team records falling in the process, but the final result failed to stray from most the past two weeks - just another Clippers loss.

Literally lost in their 122-113 setback to the Utah Jazz at the Delta Center on Friday night were a pair of brilliant performances from Clippers guards Terry Dehere and Brent Barry.

Dehere had a career-high 31 points while the rookie Barry, getting better and better, poured in a franchise-record-tying six 3-pointers and career-high 23 points.

The Clippers also broke team records for 3-point shots made (14) and 3-pointers attempted (32).

And still, it was not enough.

The continued absence of center Brian Williams (strained left arch) did not help, nor did the limited use of Stanley Roberts, who lasted just nine minutes, hindered by his chronically sore heel.

That left the center duties primarily to backups Keith Tower and Charles Outlaw.

It also left the 256-pound Karl Malone alone to roam around the basket.

He had the first triple-double of his career with 27 points, 15 rebounds and 10 assists.

"We got hurt on the boards and giving them second shots and close in," Clippers coach Bill Fitch said.

The Clippers (16-28) also were hurt by their usual offensive lapses that sent them too far behind to ever get a lead on the Jazz (30-14).

They fell behind 9-0 at the outset and took more than three minutes to score their first bucket.

"It's ironic (the difference) ended up that 9-0 spot, isn't it?" Fitch said.

But the Clippers nearly erased that deficit as they trailed 56-53 when Barry hit a 3-pointer to start the third quarter.

Then the Jazz went on a 15-2 run that appeared to be enough to call it a night. However, the Clippers continued to fight back, cutting the lead to 116-110 on Eric Piatkowski's layup with 1:43 left.

Piatkowski had a chance to pull the Clippers closer but missed a pair of 3-pointers to let the Jazz escape with their second win over the Clippers in two weeks.

But Barry and Dehere almost made up the difference.

Barry was nonchalant about his game, more concerned about the 27 points Jazz shooting guard Jeff Hornacek scored.

"I learned a few lessons from him tonight about defense," Barry said. "Anytime you're putting a lot of effort into your offensive game, you need to put just as much effort into your defensive game. He's a good guy to learn from, though."

It was one of those rare nights when the Clippers shot better from 3-point range (43.8 percent) than from the field overall (43.7).

They have now lost eight of their past nine games and four straight. They are also 3-1/2 games out of a playoff spot.

Almost lost amid the frantic flow of the game was the continued disappearance of Lamond Murray. The struggling forward had a season-low four minutes of action and was held to two points. He has gone scoreless in two of the past six games.