Clippers continue laughingstock ways

Following Monday night's action, there are four one-win teams. Only one is worthy of being called a massive disappointment.
Oklahoma City and Minnesota are young and starting over. Washington is banged up and has played a league-low three home games. Then there's the Clippers.
Strange sight to see Michael Finley clowning them on Monday night as he stole passes and finished easy layups in San Antonio's 86-83 conquest at Staples.
Felt like I was having a Life On Mars moment. Are we back in the late 90s?
Finley finished with 19 points and a pair of steals, enjoying one of those nights that made you reminisce about his younger days with the Suns and Mavericks. He came back down to earth during L.A's 13-2 run to tie the game late, but had moments where he made the Clips look like an expansion team.
Truth is, L.A. didn't any help from Finley in that department. They looked like the putrid squad that stumbled through the latter part of last decade, when they went 41-173 from 1997-99.
Errant passes, the parade of Spurs layups early in the fourth quarter, Ricky Davis getting catcalls from disgruntled Clippers fans for his shoddy play. It's that ugly.
Baron Davis and Marcus Camby entered the season gimpy and may not be all the way back yet, but their veteran influence just isn't resonating with their new teammates.
They were out-executed by a tired, depleted San Antonio team that is trying to win games with Tim Duncan and a host of players that in a healthy Spurs world, wouldn't be playing more than 25 minutes per game. That includes Finley and Roger Mason, Jr., who easily got free for the game-winning 3-pointer at the top of the key when Ricky Davis got picked off by Duncan at the top of the key and got no help from teammates.
L.A.'s final possession ended with Baron Davis completing his 0-for-8 night from beyond the arc with a bad miss that failed to draw rim.
Despite a league-high eight home games, the Clippers have won only once. They start a three-game road swing in Oklahoma City on Wednesday knowing they can't let too many more slip away becore packing in the season becomes realistic.
Elton Brand, who Clippers fans will see Friday when L.A. visits Philadelphia, will no doubt be a sight for sore eyes. Maybe he knew something we didn't.

Monday's +/- report: Shaquille O'Neal playing on back-to-back nights? Let's shelve that concept. The Diesel, fresh off his outburst on Sunday night, suited up in Salt Lake City and struggled. Outside of a few sharp passes early, O'Neal (-27, nine points, five assists) was flat more often than not, grabbing one more rebound than me sitting on my couch. On nights where he doesn't have it, Terry Porter is much better off giving his minutes to Boris Diaw and Robin Lopez... Andrei Kirilenko (+14, 19 points, seven rebounds) shook off a sprained right finger and provided terrific energy for the Jazz, finishing with a couple of blocks, while Paul Millsap (+15, 11 points, nine rebounds) added an emphatic second-quarter rejection of O'Neal that seemed to deflate the Diesel completely... With Deron Williams' ankle keeping him out, Brevin Knight (+19, 6-for-7) again pinch-hit brilliantly... Yao Ming (+23, 7-for-8, 19 points, 12 rebounds) took advantage of Oklahoma City lacking anyone capable of stopping him... Russell Westbrook (+2, 14 points) had a season-high five steals. Once he gets that jumper down, he's going to be really tough... Bruce Bowen (+12, six points in 24:46) continued to respond well to coming off the bench. He understands that the Spurs need more firepower in the starting five and hasn't let not starting affect the tenacity he plays with... Ricky Davis (-10) definitely deserved the boos he got. He looked half-asleep out there. If he's going to play like that, rookies Mike Taylor (-5, eight points, three steals) and Eric Gordon (+1, four points) would be better off getting his minutes. At least they'll play with energy.