Old Malaise Comes Back for Clippers : Pro basketball: Four-game home winning streak ends as SuperSonics run up 33-point advantage en route to a 116-88 victory.

Just when you think the Clippers are progressing, they regress.

After winning their last four home games, including victories over the Phoenix Suns and Lakers, the Clippers reverted to form, falling behind by 33 points and losing to the Seattle SuperSonics, 116-88, Thursday night before 17,873 at The Pond of Anaheim.

“I don’t know what happened?” said Clipper guard Malik Sealy, who had a team-high 16 points. “It looked like we were in a daze or something.”

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch agreed.

“We played like it was an exhibition game,” Fitch said. “They played very good defense. You probably don’t appreciate it because of the way we played offense against it. They just totally took us out of getting easy shots.

“You know how I’m always saying that we play hard at the defensive end? (Tonight) we hardly played. That’s what happens when you get taken out of it at the offensive end, you’ve got to play some defense and we just didn’t play any defense. They did just about anything they wanted to do.”

Shawn Kemp had 21 points and seven rebounds and Gary Payton had 18 points, seven assists and five rebounds as Seattle swept the five-game regular-season series from the Clippers. Kendall Gill had 18 points, seven rebounds and four assists and Sarunas Marciulionis had 21 points in 21 minutes.

“We didn’t worry about them,” Kemp said. “We were worried about ourselves playing good basketball. We just wanted to come out and play good defense.”

Seattle shot 66.7% in the second half and outscored the Clippers, 61-43.

Playing in Anaheim, their home away from home, where they play seven games this season, the Clippers played as if they were on the road.

“This is the way we played our last three road games,” Fitch said. “It’s a road day routine (when the Clippers play at Anaheim). We spend the day at a hotel. It should be good for us.”

But it wasn’t.

Clipper forward Lamond Murray, who had 10 points, said he always feels as if he is on the road.

“It’s always like a road game because we can’t really say we have a home gym that we play at every time we’re at home,” Murray said. “We’re here one week or at the Sports Arena one week or on the road one week. They can call it home, but if you’re not there long enough, it doesn’t feel like a home game.”

Reserve forward Michael Smith, who had 17 points and seven rebounds in Tuesday night’s 110-99 victory over the Phoenix Suns, had 15 points and four rebounds.

Leading by 10 points at halftime, the SuperSonics outscored the Clippers, 22-9, in the first seven minutes of the third quarter to take a 23-point lead. Seattle, which led by as many as 24 points in the quarter, shot 79% (11-14).

SuperSonic guard Nate McMillan said Seattle changed its focus.

“We finally picked up the intensity and started playing good defense,” McMillan said. “We basically became offensive minded and defense is what we play well.”

Clipper Notes

Guard Gary Grant, who has missed five games because of a back injury, has returned to practice. Although Grant is eligible to come off the injured list, the Clippers would have to waive a player to make room for him.