Clippers’ Fourth Is No Symphony

DENVER â€”  The Clippers, who didn’t arrive at their hotel here until 4 a.m. Sunday, looked as if they were suffering from sleep deprivation.

Leading the Denver Nuggets by eight points at the end of the third quarter, they hit the wall like a marathon runner, shooting only 25% and scoring 14 points in the last 12 minutes of a 100-92 loss to the NBA’s second-worst team Sunday in front of 7,507 at McNichols Arena.

“This hurts bad because it’s the bottom of the barrel,� said Clipper forward Eric Piatkowsi, who had 18 points but was held scoreless in the fourth quarter. “You figure this is the one place we can come in and get a victory on the road. Now what are we going to do?

“We’re capable, but these lapses are killing us.�

Forward Lorenzen Wright was embarrassed after the Clippers lost for the 16th time in 19 games.

“We’ve got some soul-searching to do,� said Wright, who had 10 points and five rebounds. “It’s like we just go crazy in the fourth quarter.�

It was the second consecutive fourth-quarter collapse by the Clippers, who scored only 18 points and missed nine of 14 shots in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s 83-79 loss to the injury-depleted Orlando Magic, who were without Penny Hardaway.

The Clippers were held scoreless for an eight-minute 40-second stretch in the fourth quarter of that game.

“We’ve got that perfected,� Coach Bill Fitch said after the Clippers lost for the eighth time in nine road games. “We haven’t been as good a basketball team without [Brent] Barry and [Loy] Vaught, but we’re better than 14 points a quarter.

“We defy good sense when we do things. In the fourth quarter, it’s like each guy has $100 and goes to Vegas and plays the $100 on something where the odds are 1,000-1 against him. You don’t do that.

“There were a couple of plays that will make the play of the day because they’ll take all day to figure out what happened.�

The Clippers, who had 18 turnovers, including 10 in the final quarter against Orlando, had 19 turnovers against the Nuggets, including eight in the final quarter.

“It’s no longer fun,� Fitch said. “Our guys have got to learn to compete a little bit better than they did in the fourth quarter the last two nights. We did so many stupid things in the fourth quarter that the defense couldn’t catch up.�

The Nuggets outscored the Clippers, 30-14, in the fourth quarter to register only their second victory in 17 games.

Fitch grabbed his neck to release the tension and walked toward the end of the bench after the Nuggets outscored the Clippers, 14-4, in the first 5 1/2 minutes of the quarter.

“We’re just not playing good basketball right now and it’s frustrating for everybody,� said the injured Barry. “We haven’t played good basketball in the fourth quarter. We haven’t been able to close it out.�

Guard Pooh Richardson had eight points in the third quarter as the Clippers outscored the Nuggets, 26-19, to take a 78-70 lead into the final quarter.

But the Clippers went to sleep in the final quarter as the Nuggets had six fastbreaks.

Nugget forward LaPhonso Ellis scored nine of his season-best 21 points in the fourth quarter.

After benching center Stojko Vrankovic with 55 seconds remaining in the first quarter, Fitch turned to some some scouts at the press table and asked “Do you guys speak Croatian?�

Vrankovic, who finished with five points and eight rebounds, looked a step slow in the first quarter as the Clippers fell behind, 34-24.

But rookie center Keith Closs seemed to jump-start the Clippers in the second quarter, getting five rebounds and four points as the Clippers outscored the Nuggets, 20-8, in the first eight minutes of the quarter.