Clippers Bumble Away Victory

Loy Vaught will have nightmares about the play that cost the Clippers a 107-102 double-overtime loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday night before 7,118 at the Sports Arena.

With the Clippers leading, 92-90, after Tyrone Hill made a layup with 14.4 seconds to play in the first overtime, Vaught threw the ball away on a botched inbounds play after the shot.

Cavalier forward Chris Mills made a jump shot to send the game to a second overtime period, and Cleveland outscored the Clippers, 15-10, to extend their losing streak to four games.

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch was livid after the game.

“We had the overtime,” Fitch said. “We had a four-point lead with 17 seconds left, and if they scored we had designated guys to take the ball out of bounds and if there’s any problem at all we had a timeout.

“The guy that threw the ball in wasn’t even supposed to touch it. The guy that he threw it to was supposed to be somewhere else.

“I’ve coached this game a long time, and I’ve never ever seen anything like it. It’s a reflection on all of us, but this is no time for pointing fingers. I’m ashamed.

“The guys that made those mistakes have played 1,000 ball games, and it probably won’t happen again. What we did at the end was horrible. You don’t even want to think about it again.

“It’s a tough one to swallow. I can’t remember ever having one like that, even in the playoffs, that was that tough to take home and put under the pillow.”

Vaught said he made a mental mistake in the heat of the moment.

“That was probably the worst loss since I’ve been here,” Vaught said. “[Charles] Outlaw was supposed to take the ball out of bounds, but I’m always taking it out so I just grabbed it out of instinct.

“We were in disarray and I saw Brent [Barry] and [Outlaw] over there and I threw it. I didn’t think a time out was necessary because I saw two guys there. I guess I’ll take the role of the goat today.

“This one here is one you can feel down deep, especially me. I had a play that was the beginning of the end.”

Outlaw was supposed to inbound the ball, but Vaught took it out and threw it off Outlaw’s leg.

Clipper forward Lamond Murray dived for the ball, but bruised his left knee and the ball went out of bounds off him.

Murray, who has missed 16 consecutive shots in his last four games, had a chance to be a hero, but he missed a follow-up layup at the end of regulation after Eric Piatkowski missed a jump shot.

The game went into overtime tied, 78-78.

“There wasn’t much time left and I tried to get it up and it was right there,” Murray said. “I was so upset on that.”

The Clippers had a shot to win the game, but guard Darrick Martin, who had 17 points and seven assists, missed a three-pointer at the end of the first overtime.

“Those are the ones that make you lose sleep at night,” Martin said.

Mills, the former Fairfax High player, scored 12 points in the overtime periods, and the Cavaliers ended a six-game losing streak.

Mills, who missed nine of 13 shots in regulation, said he was hesitant to shoot but took control after Terrell Brandon fouled out.

“It finally felt good to get a couple [shots] down,” said Mills, who had 22 points. “I had some wide-open looks, but I wasn’t hitting them. I was hesitant to shoot the ball. I didn’t want to shoot us out of the game, but when Terrell went out I knew a couple guys had to step up and I knew I was one of them.”