Clippers in middle, nowhere

There are few more suitable times to lean back, while looking forward, than now.

The Clippers reached the season’s midpoint, half their schedule down, half to go, with a 107-100 loss to the Charlotte Bobcats on Monday at Staples Center, where they played in front of 14,429 and without leading scorers Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman.

In the season’s first half, there was the (very brief) good: They started 4-0.

There was the bad: They haven’t won consecutive games since.

And the ugly: Last week’s management feud that played out publicly in a he-said, he-said fashion.

“Obviously, we are disappointed, but I’m disappointed not so much in individuals as I am collectively with what we’ve been going through,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “I still feel confident if we have our guys out there playing, we are a good team.”

The second half, the Clippers expect, will be better. There are, of course, the long-awaited and much-anticipated returns of Elton Brand and Shaun Livingston from serious injuries.

“Obviously there’s that to look forward to,” Dunleavy said. “I saw [Brand] out there running [Monday], and he looked good. I didn’t think I would challenge him [running] up and down. But he’s still a little ways off from obviously being able to do anything.”

And look forward they will, because the present is still not looking too pretty, with the Clippers (13-28) losing their third consecutive game.

Maggette and Kaman were suffering from flu-like symptoms after the team’s two-game trip. Their combined 38 points and 20 rebounds a game were missed Monday.

“Bottom line is, hey, we are out there,” Dunleavy said. “And there were better things we could have done to win.”

The Clippers had only nine players available to play, and sometimes “depleted” isn’t a strong enough word to describe this team.

Even owner Donald T. Sterling missed the game, said to be feeling under the weather.

“That’s the way it’s been all year,” said Tim Thomas, who scored a game-high 29 points. “You still have to lace them up, and that’s pretty much what it was.”

The Bobcats took advantage, winning a road game for only the fourth time this season. They shot 56.7%.

The Clippers shot well too -- a season-best 55.1%. But for a third straight game, they were devastated by three-point shooting, with the Bobcats making seven of 16 while the Clippers were 0 for eight.

“The big difference in the game was 21 points off of three-pointers to zero,” Dunleavy said. “That’s a tough pill to swallow.”

Gerald Wallace scored 23 points and made two three-pointers, Jason Richardson had 20 points and Emeka Okafor totaled 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats (18-27).

The Clippers were down by as many as 20 points but came back late to make it into a game.

Sam Cassell scored 17 points and Quinton Ross had 15. Pushed into extended playing time, Josh Powell scored a season-high 12 points.

The Clippers, 3-9 this month, have one more January game, Wednesday against the Atlanta Hawks.

They then embark on one of their longest trips of the season.

Maybe, by then or even Wednesday, Maggette and Kaman will be available.

For a split-second Monday, with a couple of substitutes heading in, Cassell was the only player sitting on the Clippers’ bench. No other players were dressed for the game.

It was a quiet moment of solitude in a long and frustrating first half.

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