IT TURNS INTO A POSITIVELY AWFUL NIGHT FOR CLIPPERS\UTAH 106, CLIPPERS 82.

Byline: Scott Wolf Daily News Staff Writer

First, the positives to be said about the Clippers' performance Saturday night . . .

OK, now the negatives. Everything else.

The Clippers were the first to admit that their 106-82 loss to the Utah Jazz was an utter failure in nearly every aspect and one of the least memorable outings of the season.

It got so bad that even an expected benefit, playing before 14,972 at the Anaheim Arena, was viewed unfavorably.

"I particularly don't like playing here," center Brian Williams said. "It's a road game. I had to get up at 8 (a.m.) when I barely got to bed at 2 (a.m.). It's no treat to come down here and play."

"We get more noise from 5,000 people at the Sports Arena than 15,000 here. I'll take the mausoleum any day. Obviously tonight, we didn't give them anything to cheer about."

There were plenty of other reasons for the Clippers to be upset. To name two, they shot a season-low 32.4 percent and were outrebounded 44-27.

"No one should ever play that poorly," Clippers coach Bill Fitch said. "We had a lot of guys that didn't show a lot of character and that's unusual for this group. We have no excuse not to get up and down the floor for the amount of money we make."

The recent benefits of the Clippers' four-game winning streak also were erased and L.A. has now lost four straight.

The difference? Simple. The schedule.

While the Clippers (15-24) defeated Phoenix (twice), Vancouver and Minnesota on their successful run, it fell apart when they played four quality opponents: Houston, New York, the Lakers and Utah.

How good the Jazz had to be Saturday is debatable. No Clippers starter shot over 50 percent. Or for that matter, even 45 percent.

Loy Vaught was a miserable 2 for 13 and finished with only six points. Lamond Murray went scoreless in 13 minutes. Williams went 2 for 8 and had seven points. Terry Dehere went 4 for 10.

The only starter to emerge with a decent game was rookie Brent Barry, who scored a career-high 22 points.

Considering their encouraging effort in a narrow loss to the Lakers on Friday, it seemed possible that the Clippers would come out as sharp against the Jazz.

Instead, Utah continued its momentum following an impressive victory over Orlando on Friday in Salt Lake City. Karl Malone had 21 points while John Stockton had 14 points and 15 assists.

"We played terrible," Williams said. "We didn't lack energy. We didn't didn't show any."

The Jazz (24-13) had a considerably easier time than against the Magic, as the Clippers again played without their starting backcourt of Malik Sealy (fractured thumb) and Pooh Richardson (strained right calf).

As the third quarter was winding down the Clippers were shooting an abysmal 28 percent.

"It's hard being shorthanded, continually making adjustments," Vaught said. "We're already underdogs. This is just something that makes our task that much harder."

There was one bit of good news. A day after being activated, center Stanley Roberts made his debut after being out since Nov. 28 with a sprained ankle. Roberts entered the game with 6:54 left in the first quarter and played 10 minutes. He scored three points and grabbed two rebounds.

Notes: A side effect of Sealy's fractured thumb is the reappearance of Eric Piatkowski. The second-year swingman had a season-high 16 points in a season-high 26 minutes against the Lakers on Friday night and responded with another 16 points in 32 minutes against the Jazz. "It's a very long season and what people have to understand is that if things aren't going the way you want, you're going to get an opportunity sooner or later," Piatkowski said. "It's extremely frustrating (not playing), but we've been winning some games and doing well."