1984/85:
As the Clippers arrived in Los Angeles they would make a major trade sending
up and coming players Terry Cummings, Rickey Pierce, and Craig Hodges to the
Milwaukee Bucks for Marques Johnson, Junior Bridgeman, Harvey Catchings, and
cash, who were all past their prime. After splitting the first 2 games on the
road the Clippers played their first game at the Los Angeles Sports Arena,
which had been discarded by the Lakers as outdated in 1967, and since been
used by USC on November 1st beating the New York Knicks by 2 points. Through
the first 6 weeks the Clippers played .500 basketball. However, their season
began to sink with a 6-game losing streak in December. By early March the
Clippers were out of the playoff race with a record of 22-39 when Coach Jim
Lyman was fired and replaced by Don Chaney. Under Chaney the Clippers would
not do much better finishing in 5th place with a dreadful 31-51 record.