The 1994–95 Los Angeles Clippers season was the 25th season for the Los Angeles Clippers in the National Basketball Association, their eleventh season in Los Angeles, California, and their first season in which they played occasional home games in Anaheim, California.

Season summary

Off-season The Clippers received the seventh overall pick in the 1994 NBA draft, and selected small forward Lamond Murray from the University of California. During the off-season, the team acquired Pooh Richardson, Malik Sealy, and rookie shooting guard, and first-round draft pick Eric Piatkowski out of the University of Nebraska–Lincoln from the Indiana Pacers, signed free agent Tony Massenburg, and hired Bill Fitch as their new head coach.

Regular season Early into the regular season, the Clippers traveled overseas to Yokohama, Japan to play two games against the Portland Trail Blazers at the Yokohama Arena. In the first game on November 4, 1994, the Clippers were the home team and lost to the Trail Blazers by a score of 121–100, in front of 14,229 fans in attendance; second-year guard Terry Dehere led the team with 19 points and 6 assists, while Loy Vaught finished with 16 points, and Massenburg posted a double-double of 13 points and 12 rebounds. In the second game on November 5, the Clippers were the road team and lost to the Trail Blazers by a score of 112–95, in front of 14,239 fans in attendance; Massenburg finished with a double-double of 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Dehere also added 16 points.

Under Fitch and with the addition of Murray, Richardson, Sealy and Massenburg, the Clippers struggled posting a dreadful 16-game losing streak to start the regular season, as Stanley Roberts missed the entire season due to a ruptured Achilles tendon. The team posted two six-game losing streaks between January and February, and held an 8–40 record at the All-Star break. The Clippers posted an eight-game losing streak in March, and another six-game losing streak in April, losing 15 of their final 18 games of the season, and finishing in last place in the Pacific Division with a league-worst 17–65 record.

Vaught showed improvement averaging 17.5 points, 9.7 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game, while Murray averaged 14.1 points and 4.4 rebounds per game, but was not named to an NBA All-Rookie Team at season's end, and Richardson provided the team with 10.9 points, 7.9 assists and 1.6 steals per game. In addition, Sealy contributed 13.0 points per game, while Dehere provided with 10.4 points per game, Massenburg averaged 9.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, Piatkowski contributed 7.0 points per game, and second-year forward Bo Outlaw provided with 5.2 points, 3.9 rebounds and 1.9 blocks per game.

During the NBA All-Star weekend at the America West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona, Murray was selected for the NBA Rookie Game, as a member of the White team. The Clippers finished last in the NBA in home-game attendance, with an attendance of 438,244 at the Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena during the regular season, which was 27th in the league.

Notable highlights One notable highlight of the regular season occurred on December 9, 1994, in which the Clippers defeated their crosstown rival, the Los Angeles Lakers on the road, 109–84 at the Great Western Forum. The Clippers held a 63–35 lead over the Lakers at halftime, as Richardson finished the game with 20 points, 10 assists and 5 steals, while Sealy led the team with 25 points, and Vaught posted a double-double of 19 points and 15 rebounds. It was the Clippers' second win of the season, which led to a 2–16 record.

Aftermath Following the season, Gary Grant was released to free agency, and signed as a free agent with the New York Knicks during the next season, while Massenburg was left unprotected in the 1995 NBA expansion draft, where he was selected by the Toronto Raptors expansion team, and Elmore Spencer was traded to the Denver Nuggets.

Draft

Round Pick Player Position Nationality College 1 7 Lamond Murray SF California 1 25 Greg Minor SG/SF Louisville

Roster

Roster notes Center Stanley Roberts was on the injured reserve list due to an Achilles tendon rupture, and missed the entire regular season.

Regular season

Season standings

z – clinched division title y – clinched division title x – clinched playoff spot

Game log Regular season

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ccffcc" | 48 | February 9, 19957:30p.m. PST | Houston | W 122–107 | Vaught (33) | Vaught (13) | Richardson (14) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena7,178 | 8–40 |- align="center" |colspan="9" bgcolor="#bbcaff"|All-Star Break |- style="background:#cfc;" |- bgcolor="#bbffbb" |- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 49 | February 14, 199557:30p.m. PST | @ Houston | L 104–124 | Vaught (20) | Outlaw (11) | Woods (11) | The Summit15,071 | 8–41

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 72 | March 30, 19957:30p.m. PST | Houston | L 96–108 | Murray (26) | Vaught (16) | Richardson (8) | Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena11,561 | 14–58

|- align="center" bgcolor="#ffcccc" | 79 | April 17, 19955:30p.m. PDT | @ Houston | L 111–121 | Dehere (23) | Vaught (12) | Dehere (10) | The Summit16,027 | 16–63

Player statistics

PlayerGPGSMPGFG%3P%FT%RPGAPGSPGBPGPPG Loy Vaught 80 79 37.1 51.4 21.2 71.0 9.7 1.7 1.3 0.417.5 Lamond Murray 81 61 31.6 40.2 29.8 75.4 4.4 1.6 0.9 0.714.1 Malik Sealy 60 41 26.7 43.5 30.1 78.0 3.6 1.8 1.2 0.413.0 Pooh Richardson 80 77 35.8 39.4 35.7 64.8 3.3 7.9 1.6 0.210.9 Terry Dehere 80 28 22.2 40.7 29.4 78.4 1.9 2.8 0.6 0.110.4 80 50 26.6 46.9 0.0 75.3 5.7 0.8 0.6 0.79.3 Eric Piatkowski 81 11 14.9 44.1 37.4 78.3 1.6 1.0 0.5 0.27.0 Elmore Spencer 19 8 19.4 44.1 0.0 56.0 3.4 1.3 0.7 1.26.9 Gary Grant 33 2 14.2 47.0 25.0 81.8 1.1 2.8 0.9 0.16.2 Michael Smith 29 0 11.0 47.0 12.5 86.7 1.9 0.7 0.2 0.15.3 Bo Outlaw 81 31 20.4 52.3 0.0 44.1 3.9 1.0 1.1 1.95.2 Matt Fish 26 8 14.2 47.6 0.0 67.6 3.2 0.7 0.6 0.34.7 Eric Riley 40 4 10.9 44.8 0.0 73.4 2.8 0.3 0.4 0.94.4 Harold Ellis 69 7 9.5 48.1 7.7 59.0 1.3 0.6 1.0 0.23.7 Bob Martin 1 0 14.0 20.0 0.0 0.0 2.0 1.0 0.0 1.02.0 62 3 8.0 31.6 29.7 73.7 0.7 2.2 0.7 0.02.0

Player statistics citation:

Transactions The Clippers were involved in the following transactions during the 1994–95 season.

Trades June 30, 1994 To Los Angeles Clippers Pooh Richardson, Malik Sealy and draft rights to Eric Piatkowski To Indiana Pacers Mark Jackson and draft rights to Greg Minor

Free agents

Additions Player Signed Former team Tony Massenburg June 27 FC Barcelona (Liga ACB) Matt Fish October 5 Portland Trail Blazers Eric Riley December 18 Houston Rockets Michael Smith February 20 CB Estudiantes Caja Postal (Liga ACB)

Subtractions Player Left New team John Williams released, June 15 Indiana Pacers Tom Tolbert waived, June 29 Charlotte Hornets Dominique Wilkins free agency, July 25 Boston Celtics Ron Harper free agency, September 15 Chicago Bulls Bob Martin waived, December 14 Shreveport Crawdads (CBA) Matt Fish waived, January 5 New York Knicks

Player Transactions Citation:

See also Los Angeles Clippers Los Angeles Memorial Sports Arena Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim

Other Anaheim–based teams in 1994–95 California Angels (Anaheim Stadium) 1994 California Angels season 1995 California Angels season Los Angeles Rams (Anaheim Stadium) 1994 Los Angeles Rams season Mighty Ducks of Anaheim (Arrowhead Pond of Anaheim) 1994–95 Mighty Ducks of Anaheim season *Note: The Clippers played occasional games in Anaheim

References