(My Sportsbook) - This is bound to be another long season for Pat Riley and his Miami Heat. Alonzo Mourning will likely never play basketball again. Riley got lucky when Caron Butler slipped into his grasp on Draft Day, but since then there has been little to smile about.

The latest chapter in the horror novel that has become the Heat's season was written on Tuesday night, when the Los Angeles Clippers thumped Miami 101-82.

Elton Brand, who is the type of post player Riley would love to have, scored 25 points and grabbed 20 rebounds. Andre Miller, a point guard that Riley would also love to have, scored 22 points while handing out eight assists and snagging six rebounds. Corey Maggette rounded things out with 19 points for Los Angeles.

The Clippers turned the game into a half-court slugfest, which is typically the type of basketball Riley loves to play. This year's Heat, however, are ill-equipped to compete with a roster as young and talented as that of the Clippers.

"It was just an absolute collapse," Miami coach Riley said. "We were playing the game as well as we can play. We were very aggressive.

"All of a sudden we just couldn't make a shot or play. We lost all of our aggressiveness when they slowed it down offensively, and the game went the other way."

Miami went almost eight minutes without a field goal from the middle of the third quarter until there was 7:38 remaining in regulation.

"We had some good looks, but the shots weren't falling," said Butler. "You try to crash the board and get rebounds, but they were coming up with most of them and that's what led to them getting out in transition."

The loss dropped the Heat to 1-3 on the current homestand, which concludes Friday night when the New Jersey Nets come to town.

Could this season be the end of the road for Riley? His experiment wearing both the coach and general manager hats has gone poorly. However, the Heat do have some cap relief coming next season. Riley has three years left on his current contract, and has maintained he intends to serve the duration of the deal.