Art Thompson III of the Los Angeles Times reports that the loss to the Blazers really hurt the Clippers, but their injuries are continuing to hurt as well.

Wednesday?s 97-93 loss to Portland was a bad one to swallow because the Clippers had a 4th quarter, 15-point lead but let it slip away. "It really is a shame because we played very good basketball,'' Coach Alvin Gentry said after putting the team through a two-hour practice. "We just can't shoot 4 for 15 in the fourth quarter. The guys want to do the right thing. We just have to make sure that we're executing. We had a good roll going, and if we had won the game, our confidence level probably would be as high as it could be.''

The Clippers have no time to pity themselves as they face the Suns tonight in Staples Center and they are still struggling with injuries.

Andre Miller sprained his ankle three weeks ago. He sat out one game and limped through eight others. He had 25 points and 8 assists in the loss to the Blazers, but he was hobbling on his injured ankle. Gentry held Miller out of Thursday?s practice and plans to rest him as much as possible next week when they play only two games in seven days.

"We have to keep monitoring him,'' Gentry said. "He wants to play, but we probably have to look at that situation. The only thing is, if you take him out and sit him down, the ankle tightens up.''

Adding to the injury woes is guard Eric Piatkowski. He has missed four games with a lower abdominal strain and is listed as "out" for tonight's game and Saturday's game against the Denver Nuggets. "I saw a specialist Tuesday,'' Piatkowski said. "I've had this before. I hope to be back the first game we play after Christmas."