In the first of many games on the road, the Clippers trailed for the final 40 minutes of a 105-91 loss to the Sacramento Kings, who had a balanced attack led by Chris Webber's 21 points.
The athletic but inexperienced Clippers got off to a 16-14 start that may have been a bit misleading. Just eight of those games were on the road, where they were to play 21 of their next 29 games.
"I think that we feel like we can win on the road," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "We play well on the road. This really isn't indicative of the way we can play on the road. We've lost three overtime games on the road, we've lost two other games that were really close, and those games could have gone either way.
 Peja Stojakovic and the Kings have been very difficult to contain this season. Rocky Widner /NBAE/Getty Images |
Los Angeles took a 1-7 road mark into Arco Arena, perhaps the toughest NBA arena for a visitor. The Kings sell out every home game and serenade visitors with countless cow bells.
"It is the toughest arena to win on the road," Gentry said.
Sacramento cruised to its 11th straight win at home, where it is a league-best 18-1 this season. The only loss came in overtime to Dallas.
"They were very aggressive tonight," Clippers forward Elton Brand said. "We knew that, at home, that's the way they play. The last few games, all I see is 30-point victories."
Webber led six players in double figures and added 10 rebounds and six assists. Doug Christie added 17 points and Mike Bibby 16 and nine assists for the Kings, who have won a season-high five straight games.
"We have been passing the ball well the last five games," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "I am just really plased with the whole five-game stand, the way we approached each game and the way we came out of each game."
The Kings got a scare early in the first quarter when center Vlade Divac fell, sprained his right knee and left the game. But he returned in the second period and finished with 16 points and nine rebounds.
"I couldn't move my right leg," Divac said. "I started thinking about my knee. My hip and elbow felt fine, but I just didn't want a hurt knee. When I started walking again, everything was fine. I knew it was nothing major once I got up. It will be sore tomorrow."
The Kings took the lead for good at 19-18 on Webber's 10-footer with 3:28 left in the first quarter. They widened the advantage to 30-24 after one period.
Divac made all five of his shots and scored 12 points in the second period and Sacramento took a 56-47 lead into halftime. Bibby scored nine points in the third quarter, which ended with the Kings holding a 78-67 advantage.
Brand's layup made it 81-72 with 10:26 to play before the Kings sealed it with a 15-5 run fueled by the bench. Scot Pollard scored six points and Bobby Jackson added four before feeding Webber for an alley-oop dunk and a 96-77 lead with 6:08 to go.
Peja Stojakovic scored 14 points and Pollard added 11 for the Kings, who shot 43 percent (43-of-100) and committed a season-low seven turnovers.
"We controlled the ball well tonight," Stojakovic said. "We played a strong game tonight and took care of the ball."
Jeff McInnis scored 20 points and Michael Olowokandi and Lamar Odom added 13 apiece for the Clippers, who shot 41 percent (34-of-83) and committed 18 turnovers. Olowokandi and Odom sat out Tuesday's win over Portland with injuries.