Clippers remain in a free fall

Call it a traipse, or trap -- through the top 20s.

And so far, the Clippers, along with their season, are teetering.

Two games into a tough home-stretch against 20-win teams, the Clippers have lost both, the second coming in an 88-82 loss to the San Antonio Spurs before 16,623 Sunday at Staples Center.

Still looming on the horizon: the Orlando Magic (22-13), Dallas Mavericks (23-11) and Phoenix Suns (23-10).

The trek doesn’t bode well for the Clippers (10-21), who have only two wins against plus-.500 teams this season -- the Golden State Warriors and Denver Nuggets -- and have lost eight of their last nine games.

They played well defensively and better offensively on Sunday, especially in comparison with the shooting of late that’s trudged them to the bottom of the NBA ranks in scoring and shooting percentage.

San Antonio shot 40.5% and made only three of 18 three-point shots. But the Spurs converted 25 of 36 free throws to the Clippers’ eight of 12, with the Spurs’ Manu Ginobili attempting 13.

Guard Tony Parker continually found his way to the rim, scoring a game-high 26 points on 10-for-17 shooting. Tim Duncan had 17 points and 17 rebounds, and Ginobili had 23 points off the bench.

What followed was an exasperated Clippers locker room, optimistically hopeful of answers but mindful of a ticking clock that is coming awfully early this season.

“It’s tough,” guard Cuttino Mobley said. “Losing 21 games and it’s not even February. I don’t remember the last time that ever happened to me.

“I don’t think we have the chemistry that we should. We don’t have a lot of young guys, but what do you do? [San Antonio] has chemistry. If you aren’t going to Parker, you are going to Ginobili. If you aren’t going to Ginobili, you are going to Duncan and the other guys are fitting in. It’s the same way with the Phoenix [Suns].

“I think we are just everywhere.”

Chris Kaman scored a team-high 20 points and took 14 rebounds, and Al Thornton added 17 points on eight-for-19 shooting. Corey Maggette scored 14 points before fouling out in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our guys played well,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We held them to 40% shooting from the field. We had some good ball movement, but the difference in the game was the free-throw line. Unfortunately, down the stretch we had some good looks we didn’t make.”

Tim Thomas, returning from a sore knee, made a three-point basket to put the Clippers ahead, 74-73, with 5 minutes 41 seconds to play. But Parker answered with a three-point basket and the Spurs never trailed again.

San Antonio (23-9) entered a surprising 5-7 on the road, and the Clippers held tight most of the matinee game, but ultimately fell to 12 games behind the Suns in the Pacific Division. The Clippers have lost 15 of their last 16 games against the Spurs.

The Clippers led by as many as 10 in the first half, but did not make a field goal in the last seven minutes of it to break even with the Spurs, 42-42, at halftime.

They shot 45.6% for the game. There were seven lead changes and the score was tied 11 times, but ultimately the Clippers finished, again, on the wrong end when it counted most at the end of the game.

“Overall, we did a decent job,” Kaman said. “We played better than we have in the past. We did well defensively. It was there, but the last three minutes, we just didn’t finish, which has been a common thread for us.”

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