LOS ANGELES – Jeff Van Gundy kept the same starting lineup and the result had the same stink. With their defense still putrid, the athletic Clippers shredded the Knicks 99-86, at the Staples Center in an abominable loss that kept them winless on the road at 0-6.
The Clippers are playing without their best player in suspended Lamar Odom but the Knicks (4-7) made all Clippers look like stars, particularly reserve second-year swingman Quentin Richardson, who scored 20 points on 9-of-10 shooting and killed them in the fourth quarter with 11 points. Even little backup point guard Earl Boykins, at 5-5, stood tall against the clownish Knicks, with 11 points and five assists.
With back-to-back losses against the league’s two sorriest franchises of the past 10 years – the Nets and Clippers – Van Gundy likely has no choice but to shake it up when the Knicks faces the Warriors tomorrow in Oakland.
And to make matters worse, Kurt Thomas sprained his left ankle in the third quarter, hobbled in pain in the locker room and is questionable for the rest of the three-game western trip. Which makes it more likely the Knicks will return home for Thanksgiving at 4-9.
In his first call-to-arms speech, Latrell Sprewell said: “The team spirit is down, until guys stop feeling sorry for themselves. We have to have a collective spirit to take us through times like this. It seems like we were down in the second quarter, coming to the bench, guys looking sad like the game is over and it’s so early. If we all try to pick one another up somehow and have a better attitude, we’ll start turning it around. It’s no time for getting down on each other. The coach is going to do that enough. “
Van Gundy kept Mark Jackson in the starting lineup along with Allan Houston, two of the Knicks’ worst defenders. Meanwhile, Charlie Ward, one of their most tenacious defenders, is out of the rotation but likely not for long. The Knicks are allowing 98 points per game on the road and backup point guard Howard Eisley (0-for-4, three turnovers, no points) is regressing fast, shooting 29 percent.
“Terrible defense, just awful,” Van Gundy said. “We’re very capable. We just don’t guard.” Asked about lineup changes, Van Gundy said “We’ve got to find a way to put a lineup out there that has enough balance between offense and defense, a combination of guys.”
Jackson was OK offensively (10 assists, nine points) but his defense remains deficient and he made the costly fourth-quarter turnover that all but ended it. With the Clips up seven, Richardson intercepted a telegraphed pass from Jackson to Shandon Anderson. Richardson raced in all alone and executed a theatrical reverse slam dunk that put the Clippers up 78-69 with 7:11 left.
If it wasn’t over then, it was after Westchester’s Elton Brand, outfought Clarence Weatherspoon and Thomas for an offensive rebound, laid it in and got fouled. Brand’s 3-point play lifted the Clippers to a 85-75 lead. The Clippers scored 27 points in the final seven minutes.
“The misperception is we are a great defensive team,” said Houston. “We still think because we have New York on our chests we’re a good defensive team, but right now we’re not. We don’t have the resolve. One or two things go bad, we slink and slouch over.”
The Knicks fell behind by 15 points in the second quarter after committing eight turnovers in the period.
