The pre-season tipped-off when the Clips’ split a pair of games against prominent Euroleague squads BC Kimkhi and CSKA in Moscow, Russia. The Clippers finished training camp in Santa Barbara and went 4-2 in their remaining pre-season games, including a 91-90 win over their cross-town rivals, the Los Angeles Lakers.

Los Angeles opened the regular season with a 112-104 loss in Phoenix, but recorded a franchise best 6-0 record to start the season on their home court. As the season progressed, the Clippers struggled to tally wins on the road. LA recorded its first road win on December 9 with an 89-82 victory in Memphis and only won back-to-back contests on the road three times during the season.

After a 6-2 record to start the season, with both losses coming away from STAPLES Center, a five-game losing streak and losses to Western Conference opponents at the beginning of December brought the Clippers to .500 after the first 20 games of the season. A home loss to San Antonio on December 11th was the last time LA would see the .500 mark until January 25th when they beat the visiting New Jersey Nets 102-101 on Cuttino Mobley’s three-point shot with 0.6 seconds left in the game.

The Clippers won six of their last seven games in January, finishing the month above .500 for the first time since December 9th with a 23-22 record. Things were looking up for the Clips’, who posted a 100-89 win at Boston to tip-off a seven-game East Coast trip. LA’s road woes resurfaced, posting a meager 2-5 record on the trip and finished 2-6 in February before the All-Star break.

With no members of the Clippers roster attending All-Star festivities in Vegas, the players and coaches spent their time recouping from a 25-28 first half of the season. The Clippers returned from the All-Star break with a 115-90 home loss to the Phoenix Suns, but LA finished the month strong with three straight victories.

On February 26th, the Clippers suffered a monumental loss when starting point guard Shaun Livingston went down at the 8:10 mark in the first quarter of the game vs. the Charlotte Bobcats at STAPLES Center. Livingston suffered tears to the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), posterior cruciate ligament (PCL), medial collateral ligament (MCL) and lateral meniscus. Livingston also suffered a patella dislocation, in addition to the previously diagnosed tibia/femoral dislocation.

Seeking to fill the void left by the injured young point guard, and with veteran Sam Cassell sidelined with back spasms for much of the second half of the season, the Clippers signed guard Jason Hart on March 5th. Hart saw action in 23 games with the Clippers, averaging 9.0 points, 4.0 assists and 32.4 minutes per game.

A five-game losing streak to start the Month of March put the Clippers out of Playoff contention, but an 8-2 record from March 16 - April 4 put Los Angeles back in the Playoff hunt. The team was soaring after a 17-point come-from-behind 118-110 road victory over the Lakers on April 12th, and the Clippers saw themselves just four games away from their second straight trip to the Playoffs. Although the Golden State Warriors were right on their heels, the Clippers were in the driver’s seat. LA owned the tie-breaker against the Warriors and needed only three wins in their final four games of the season to secure the eighth and finals Playoff spot in the West.

The Clippers won their first game 107-89 over the visiting Portland Trail Blazers, but saw a dramatic shift in their Playoff hopes when they fell 105-100 to the Sacramento Kings. Golden State had beaten the Minnesota Timberwolves 121-108 on their home court, giving them a 1.0 game lead over the Clippers for the 8th seed in the West. Suddenly, LA’s Playoff chances rested in the hands of another team. The Clippers needed a road win in Phoenix and a loss by Golden State against the Mavericks to regain the 8th spot. LA’s must-win mentality led them to victory against the Suns, but Golden State was greeted by a Dallas team that sat its starters and won handedly, 111-82 on their home court.

It came down to the final game of the season for Los Angeles. A Clippers home win against the Hornets coupled with a Warriors road loss at the Trail Blazers would give LA the eighth and final Playoff Spot. Unfortunately for the red, white & blue, Golden State sealed their Playoff fate with a 120-98 win in Portland. Not knowing the outcome of that game, the Clippers were neck-and-neck against the visiting Hornets. Hornets guard Rasual Butler hit the tie-breaking jumper with 1.5 seconds remaining to give New Orleans/Oklahoma City an 86-83 victory over Los Angeles in the NBA's final regular season game Wednesday night.

The Clippers finished the season two games below .500, at 40-42 with a 25-16 record at home and 15-26 on the road.

"Everybody’s very disappointed,” Clippers Vice President of Basketball Operations Elgin Baylor said during a post-season press conference. “Based on last year, we expected a better season this year. Last year we had a franchise record, and the expectations were great. We can’t use excuses; we can’t say it was injuries because the teams that finished above us had injuries, too. We had several games that we should have won, but in the last few seconds we lost. Had we won those games, we wouldn’t have been in this position.”