INDIANAPOLIS - The question barely was out before Clippers center Chris Kaman responded with the quick retort - "What do you think?"
The query was did Chris Kaman feel frustrated at not being able to fully capitalize on the seven offensive rebounds he grabbed Sunday afternoon and if a 3-of-14 shooting performance frustrated him.
"I've been so inconsistent this year and it's frustrating," said Chris Kaman after the Clippers' 94-80 loss to the Indiana Pacers at Conseco Fieldhouse.
The victory snapped Indiana's three-game losing streak but their concerns afterward were about second-year forward Danny Granger, who was prone on the floor, after being involved in a physical play underneath the basket in the third quarter. With the building hushed, Granger was immobilized and taken to a nearby hospital. He was awake, responsive and able to move his arms and legs.
"It's scary," Clippers forward Elton Brand said. "We just wish him the best."
Meanwhile, no Clipper criticized Chris Kaman, who finished with 10 points and 14 rebounds but several players said that offensive plays around the basket have to be finished.
Brand included himself, after finishing with a 14-point, 11-rebound double-double, and six blocked shots.
Newly acquired Pacer Mike Dunleavy Jr. presented a big matchup problem playing at shooting guard instead of forward. The 6-foot-9 Dunleavy made 9 of 12 shots and scored 20 points.
"He's playing comfortably in this system," said Dunleavy's father, Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. "He likes it here. (Indiana's) Rick (Carlisle) is a good coach. They're fundamentally sound in what they do."
The Clippers shot 36.8 percent from the field. Toss in the 20 turnovers they committed that led to 21 Pacers points and it is not difficult to conclude how the Clippers fell back under .500 (25-26) and 2-4 on this trip.
The Clippers' 8-18 road record is worse than only three other Western Conference teams - Golden State (6-19), Seattle (5-19) and Memphis (3-22). Of those teams, only Golden State can claim a legitimate playoff-berth pursuit. The Clippers were 20-21 on the road last season.
Clippers guard Cuttino Mobley, who scored a game-high 23 points, said the team's problem is simple.
"We just don't have that dog in us," Mobley said, meaning that the Clippers lack the grit, spunk and determination it takes to win games. "To be so talented ... We're not in third place. We're pushing seventh, eighth, back and forth, back and forth. We should come out hungry, man. We keep saying, `We've got it, we're going to be OK.' Before you know it, it's going to be April and then where are you going to be? Cancun or somewhere like that."
Indiana's lead hit 23 after Jermaine O'Neal made a thunderous dunk two minutes into the third quarter. The Clippers cut the deficit to eight before the quarter ended and when the Pacers went up by 17 early in the fourth, the Clippers battled back to seven. Both times opportunities to get closer were stymied by the Clippers' miscues.
"I don't know what we are but we aren't tough enough," Clippers point guard Sam Cassell said. "To win on the road, you have to be tough physically and mentally."
A 28-6 Indiana run in the second quarter buried the Clippers under a 20-point halftime deficit, and wiped out the pair of brief two-point leads the Clippers possessed. Cassell called it, "pandemonium."
"Our turnovers killed us," Coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Every time we had a chance to get back in the game, we missed a layup or turned it over."
Chris Kaman rarely ventures outside to shoot, which means the bulk of his field-goal tries come in close proximity to the basket. Yet, he only is shooting 44 percent from the field, a dramatic drop off from last season, when he made 52 percent of his field-goal tries.
Dunleavy has talked a number of times with Chris Kaman, in order to bolster his confidence and at times has explained a tough shooting game by Kaman as good shot attempts, that simply went in and out. But the fact is the seven-foot Kaman misses a lot of point-blank tries because he declines to dunk.
MAGGETTE BACK
Clippers swingman Corey Maggette returned, after missing the previous two games with the flu. Maggette scored eight points but also had five turnovers in 26 minutes.
"I got a little winded and my timing was off," Maggette said. I turned the ball over too much, trying to rush plays."
NOTES
As expected, the Clippers signed 36-year old guard Doug Christie to a second 10-day contract. ... Swingman Quinton Ross did not play for the first time this season. Ross flew to Dallas early Saturday morning and back to Indianapolis on a late flight Saturday night due to personal family reasons.
See more at www.mercurynews.com
