Patchwork Clippers lose seventh in row

Early on, the cavalry came in. All of it.

It’s a nightly guessing game – who will actually play for the Clippers?

When Cuttino Mobley, Smush Parker and Nick Fazekas entered in the first quarter of an eventual 83-72 loss to the Portland Trail Blazers on Saturday night at Staples Center, the early signs were not promising.

And neither were the later ones.

The Trail Blazers took advantage of the Clippers’ skeleton squad, especially in the interior.

Portland center Joel Przybilla took a career-high 25 rebounds, rounding out his line with 14 points, the majority on dunks and put-backs. Brandon Roy amassed 23 points. LaMarcus Aldridge, their power forward, outmuscled everyone the Clippers could toss at him, and finished with 21 points.

The Clippers are limping to the finish line in losses and players. They equaled a season-high losing streak of seven and have dropped 15 of 17 games.

“Even at this point, I don’t know exactly who my starting lineup will be,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said about 90 minutes before tipoff.

He eventually patched one together, missing some key pieces.

Tim Thomas made his way to the arena but said his stomach was too upset to play and departed beforehand. Brevin Knight (lower left leg), Aaron Williams (abdominal muscle) and Chris Kaman (lower back) were out again.

They all joined Elton Brand, Shaun Livingston and Paul Davis, who are sidelined because of serious injuries.

It left Mobley, Parker and Fazekas coming off the bench – two of whom were not on the team a month ago. They combined for 20 points.

They did receive a boost with Corey Maggette playing after sitting out Friday’s loss to Portland because of an injured left shoulder.

He had 21 points and seven rebounds and Josh Powell chipped in 13 points and 10 rebounds.

Maggette took shots of two kinds – a cortisone shot and practice shots – before deciding to grit it out.

“It’s still frustrating,” he said. “You want to go out there and play as hard as you can for the fans, but sometimes, you are overmatched. It’s as simple as that. The underdog can win some of the time, but not all of the time.”

It is next season when the Trail Blazers are expected to be challengers – with maturation and a healthy Greg Oden.

Portland led much of the game, giving away a brief lead to the Clippers in the second quarter, but led by double digits much of the way.

The Clippers had hung tight a night earlier in Portland.

Dunleavy credited his team for playing hard on consecutive nights, but said the Trail Blazers’ muscle did in the Clippers. They had 22 second-chance points to the Clippers’ six.

There is no quick end in sight.

A three-game trip looms for the Clippers (21-48) this week against the Dallas Mavericks (44-25), San Antonio Spurs (46-23) and Utah Jazz (46-25).

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com