Clippers Start Off Well, but Outcome Is Familiar

Years from now, Jim Todd’s first two games as interim coach of the Clippers will not look bad in the NBA history book.

They will just blend in as two of many losses for one of the league’s all-time worst franchises.

What they won’t show is how the Chicago Bulls, two years removed from when Michael Jordan dominated, walked into Staples Center on Sunday night with the worst record in the league and still handed the struggling Clippers a 100-90 defeat before 12,973.

And, the Bulls did it after spotting the Clippers a 16-point first-quarter lead.

“They are extremely talented but it just seemed to me that they are not playing as hard as they could,” veteran Chicago guard Hersey Hawkins said about the young Clippers, who have lost 18 of their last 20 games.

“One of the things I sensed when I got into the game in the second quarter was that they were playing, but they were not playing to win. I told our guys to pick up the intensity and I think they will sort of buckle.”

Buckle. Fold. Collapse. Fall apart. Use any word or phrase you want, but the Clippers did what they do best and that’s play well for a while and then lose in the second half.

“Of course it gives teams confidence [playing the Clippers] because you know that may happen,” said Hawkins, in his 12th season in the league. “Especially on the road. . . . When you’re playing a talented team and you can tell they are really not into it, that gives you confidence to play even harder and be more aggressive.

“But once they get it together. . . whew. They are going to be a dangerous team.”

But for now, the Clippers (11-36) are still a young team looking for direction and an identity.

“We’re not as frustrated as we were last week but we have to get some victories,” point guard Troy Hudson said. “Right now, we are feeling a little bad about ourselves. We need a victory to wipe everything away so we can start clean.”

The Clipper defense was all but nonexistent in a 13-point loss to Dallas on Saturday, but against the Bulls, the league’s lowest scoring team, it was a different story early on.

Todd had the Clippers pressing full-court from the opening tip and the tactic worked to perfection in the first quarter.

The Bulls (10-35) appeared shocked to see the Clippers playing defense.

Chicago turned the ball over 10 times in the first 12 minutes and the Clippers received great production from center Michael Olowokandi, who helped them take a 29-13 lead after one quarter.

But after shooting 65% in the first period, the Clippers’ cold touch returned in the second. Veteran forward Toni Kukoc woke up and scored 11 of his 20 points, and the Bulls made 14 of 20 shots from the field to almost completely wipe out their deficit to trail only 48-45 at halftime.

“We have a long way to go defensively,” said Todd about the Clippers, who allowed Chicago to shoot 54.3% for the game.

With Olowokandi getting 12 points and five rebounds in the first half, the Clippers were more than holding their own against the smaller Bulls.

But in the second half, Olowokandi became a non-factor and Chicago rookie Elton Brand stepped up with 15 of his 21 points.

“Michael scored 12 points in the first half and then didn’t score another basket,” Todd said. “We thought that would be a spot we could attack. We were supposed to be going into [Olowokandi] but either they did a great job of defending him or we didn’t do such a great job of finding him. I think it was a little bit of both.”

Power forward Maurice Taylor led the Clippers with 23 points on 11-of-19 shooting.