It’s Over, and the Clippers Show It

It’s official now, a mathematical reality: For the 17th time in the 20 seasons since owner Donald Sterling moved the club from San Diego, the Clippers will not be involved in the NBA playoffs.

Their 103-94 loss to the woeful Washington Wizards on Thursday night in front of 15,293 at Staples Center pushed their losing streak to six games, matching their longest of the season, but it only heightened their anguish.

They’re 11 games out of the eighth and final playoff position in the Western Conference, with nine games left, and were mathematically eliminated from the playoff chase when they lost Wednesday night at Portland.

Meanwhile, the four most prominent players who left the Clippers as free agents last summer -- Lamar Odom, Michael Olowokandi, Andre Miller and Eric Piatkowski -- remain in the playoff picture with their new teams -- even though two of them, Odom and Miller, joined teams that were worse than the Clippers last season.

They play for teams that are 10-2 against the Clippers:

* Odom is the top rebounder and No. 2 scorer for the Miami Heat.

* Miller leads in assists and is the No. 2 scorer for the Denver Nuggets.

* Olowokandi, back in the lineup after sitting out about half the season because of knee injuries, has started 25 of the 33 games in which he has suited up for the division-leading Minnesota Timberwolves.

* Piatkowski, after nine seasons with the Clippers, is going to the playoffs for only the second time, this time with the Houston Rockets.

“That could easily have been us in the running, if we had some of those guys,” Keyon Dooling said of his former teammates. “It just lets us know that we’re still not there, we’ve still got to add more pieces to the puzzle.”

Said Elton Brand: “It’s discouraging. I’m not jealous; that’s not a trait that I have. I’m happy for those guys. But it is discouraging.”

The last time the Clippers played the Wizards, on Feb. 6 at Washington, they still had hopes of making a playoff run. They had won three of four games to start an eight-game trip and were only three games below .500.

But they gave up 25 of the first 28 points in the MCI Center and lost to the Wizards, 112-100, starting a 5-21 slide.

With Quentin Richardson and Chris Wilcox sidelined because of injuries and Matt Barnes sitting out because of stomach flu Thursday, the Clippers fell behind, 22-6, by which time Brand, Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman all had two fouls.

They rallied, twice cutting the deficit to two points in the fourth quarter. But each time reserve guard Steve Blake, at the end of a nearly flawless performance, answered for the Wizards, the first time finding Kwame Brown inside for a dunk and the second time making a three-point shot.

Blake made all six of his shots, three from beyond the three-point arc, and both of his free throws, finishing with 17 points and four assists in 18 minutes.

The Wizards, who got game highs of 30 points and 12 rebounds from Larry Hughes, won for only the seventh time in 34 road games.