Clippers outlast Bucks

The Clippers had their hands full all game long with the beat-up Milwaukee Bucks.

It wasn’t until the final few possessions that the Clippers secured a 92-86 victory over the Bucks on Saturday night at Staples Center.

It took 22 points and 14 rebounds from Blake Griffin for the Clippers to win their third straight game.

It took a season-high 20 points and six rebounds from Caron Butler for the Clippers to break free of their first-half malaise.

It took 19 points from Chauncey Billups for the Clippers to escape.

The Clippers still have problems they must overcome.

They shoot poorly from the free-throw line, making just 26 of 40 (65%).

The Clippers still haven’t outrebounded an opponent during any of their six games this season.

They were outrebounded by the Bucks, 42-37.

The Clippers pride themselves on taking care of the basketball, but they had 14 turnovers.

They shoot poorly from the three-point line, making four of 19 (21.1%).

Brandon Jennings, who grew up in the Los Angeles area, hit the Clippers for 21 points, seven assists and six rebounds.

Stephen Jackson had 18 points for the Bucks, who somehow kept the game close until the end.

The Clippers had claimed that there has been progress, that they are putting in the work to get better, to become a more cohesive Clippers team.

Even Griffin was saying so.

“It’s been better, but I know it can get better,” Griffin said at the team’s shoot-around Saturday morning. “It can get much, much better. We’ve got to keep working. But I am happy with how all of our guys have worked. Everybody is working hard. When it’s time to get serious and get on that court and get some work done, we really do.”

In the first half against the Bucks, it was hard to see much progress.

The Clippers scored just 38 points in the first half, two above their season low.

They shot just 42.9% from the field in the first half, but did hold the Bucks to 35% shooting.

What was more maddening for Clippers fans was watching their team lose, 40-38, at halftime to a Bucks team that barely is holding together.

The Bucks were missing starters Andrew Bogut (out for personal reasons) and Mike Dunleavy (strained groin) and key reserves Beno Udrih (left shoulder) and Luc Mbah a Moute (right knee). They lost Bucks reserve forward Jon Brockman at halftime with a left eye contusion.

Still, the Clippers never seemed to be able to outwork the Bucks in the first half.

The Clippers were tied in rebounding with the Bucks in the first half, 22-22.

“Defense and rebounding is always a concern,” Clippers Coach Vinny Del Negro said before the game. “We should be a much better rebounding team. Defensively, it’s just a matter of us staying together and trusting each other in the system. We have to have a consistency with that.”

The Clippers did get a lift from Reggie Evans, who played after missing the first five games with a sprained right foot.

Evans entered the game with 3:31 left in the first quarter and immediately got involved, collecting an offensive rebound and drawing a foul in the process. He had six rebounds in the first half, but was just one for six from the free-throw line.

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