Clippers crumble to open 2nd half

The Los Angeles Clippers would like to think the All-Star break gave them a chance to regroup and come back ready to turn around their disappointing season.

Unfortunately for them, things aren't quite that easy in this difficult season.

In their first game back since the break, the Los Angeles Clippers' slide continued as they lost a fourth consecutive game, 115-90, to the Phoenix Suns Tuesday night at Staples Center.

Nine months ago, the Los Angeles Clippers took the Suns to Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals. On Tuesday, the Suns took them to school.

The Suns made the fourth quarter irrelevant, going up, 92-68, through three quarters. They led by 17 at halftime, 14 in the first quarter, and Steve Nash returned from a four-game absence and often made the Los Angeles Clippers' defense look silly.

"They didn't make it look worse than it was,'' the Los Angeles Clippers' Elton Brand said. "That's how bad it was.''

Nash didn't play in the fourth quarter, but had 13 points and 12 assists. He had eight points and seven assists in the first quarter, when the Suns shot 77.8 percent from the field.

Shawn Marion finished with 31 points and nine rebounds, and by the second half, the Los Angeles Clippers basically had no chance.

Cuttino Mobley (strained groin) and Chris Kaman (flu) were out, and no one made up for their absence enough to make it competitive.

Sam Cassell, in particular, was nowhere to be found. In the second half he did not play at all and finished with two points.

Los Angeles Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said he had an abdominal strain, but if the game got close, he could have reinserted him.

Corey Maggette had 19 points and seven rebounds, and Elton Brand added 17 points. The only Clipper who had significantly more production than normal was second-year guard Daniel Ewing, who scored 16 points.

With the Los Angeles Clippers struggling and the trading deadline Thursday, the team is not expected to make a move, even though Corey Maggette's name is a common part of rumors.

"I don't see us making any deals,'' Dunleavy said. "Obviously, every team should be looking for anything with potential that could help you. But I don't see anything on the horizon.''

Dunleavy said teams are making lowball offers, nothing that would make the Los Angeles Clippers better. Corey Maggette is likely to stay, even though he has called out Dunleavy on what he, and media members and heaps of fans, see as misuse of the small forward.

"We've been talking about this since last year and now this year,'' Corey Maggette said. "It is what it is. The best thing I can do is go out there and play and play to the ability I can. Like I said, I'll let (management) handle the business aspect, and I'll play basketball.''

With two starters out and the high-scoring Suns in town, the Los Angeles Clippers were facing a tough task to come out of the break with a win. Yet Dunleavy still had the idea that his team could use the break as a reason to start turning around its fate.

Perhaps strangely, he referenced former Los Angeles Clippers and current Los Angeles Lakers Vladimir Radmanovic, who separated his shoulder in Utah over the break and will be out for two months, when talking about using the break as an advantage.

"I think at this time of the year, everybody needs a break,'' Dunleavy said. "I told our guys, 'Let's get back and be rejuvenated. Rest up and start fresh here.' I'm sure all the other coaches are probably telling their guys the same thing, but it doesn't always happen. Guys separate shoulders and do all kinds of stuff.''

Christie done: Doug Christie's on-court antics are among the most bizarre in the NBA. For example, he raises his hand approximately 50 times per game as a love signal to his wife, Jackie.

So perhaps it was within his character that his departure from the Los Angeles Clippers also was bizarre.

Christie did not report to the Los Angeles Clippers for their practice on Monday and did not play on Tuesday, which would have been the final day of his second 10-day contract. He voided the contract, and the Los Angeles Clippers took the formal step of putting him on the team's suspended list on Tuesday.

With Cuttino Mobley out with a strained groin, Christie figured to get significant playing time on the final day of his contract. Today, the Los Angeles Clippers would have been forced to decide whether to sign him for the remainder of the season, and Coach Mike Dunleavy said no decision had been made on whether the team would keep him.

"We hadn't really gotten to it yet,'' Dunleavy said. "But with Mobley being out, potentially for a while, everything starts shifting to that direction, positive for his case.''

Christie, 36, is in his 15th NBA season. With that experience, a 10-day contract is worth approximately $70,000. By missing two days, he forfeited $14,000 of pay.

How the departure transpired blindsided the coach.

"I'm surprised by it because I liked him,'' Dunleavy said. "I thought he worked hard, thought he was a good teammate, and I just didn't think he'd bail. That wasn't even a thought.''

Duo out: The Los Angeles Clippers played their first game after the All-Star break without two starters -- Mobley (strained groin) and Chris Kaman (flu).

Chris Kaman could be back for the team's next game, Saturday against Golden State. But Mobley's status is uncertain. Strangely, Mobley went through a sweat-inducing, pre-game regiment, although that regiment consisted mostly of shooting.

"You can't really tell about groins,'' Mobley said. "You just have to let them rest. The slightest thing off the court can mess it up.

You have to stay off of it as much as possible, or at least don't move it as much.''

 

See more at www.dailybreeze.com