SEATTLE — A season of fourth-quarter letdowns and missed opportunities continued Wednesday night for the Seattle SuperSonics.

Sticking with the season’s familiar outcome, the Sonics were out-hustled and outplayed again when the game mattered most. This time the Los Angeles Clippers ran away with a 102-84 victory as the Sonics failed to match the Clippers’ intensity in the final quarter.

Now losers of 19 of their past 21 contests, the game against the Clippers may have been the Sonics last legitimate opportunity for a win for the rest of the season.

“For whatever reason we quit doing what got us there,” said Seattle forward Nick Collison, who finished with 12 points and 17 boards. “We don’t move the ball and we stand around and wait for someone else to make plays. A lot of times we give the ball to Kevin (Durant) for isolations, and we’re not moving the ball. And we’re not running our plays the right way.

“We’re not getting a lot of good shots down towards the end. We don’t get good shots and then we have some turnovers. It’s been the same way all year.”

At 17-58, Seattle has seven games remaining — all against teams either fighting for a playoff spot or looking to improve their position in the competitive Western Conference.

The Sonics face Dallas and Houston twice, take on San Antonio and Golden State on the road and host Denver in what could be the team’s last game in Seattle.

“For us, we have to make sure that we’re ready for playoff-like atmosphere and playoff-like competitiveness, and that’s different,” coach P.J. Carlesimo said. “I don’t care what people say. It’s different. The level goes up.

“People look at every possession a little differently. You don’t have to spend a lot of time getting guys focused. They are focused, and they stay focused.”

The Sonics would have to win all seven games to best the worst record in franchise history at 23-59, set in the Sonics’ inaugural season of 1967-68.

The Clippers (22-53) received a jolt of energy with the return of franchise cornerstone Elton Brand. It was Brand’s first action since suffering a left ruptured Achilles tendon during a workout last summer.

The 6-foot-8 power forward checked in with 6:02 left in the first quarter and played well, finishing with 19 points and five rebounds in 26 minutes.

Brand played all but a minute of the fourth quarter, scoring nine of his 19 points in the final period and helping his team outscore Seattle 33-14 in the fourth.

Brand received high-fives from injured Clippers Cuttino Mobley, Tim Thomas and the rest of the Los Angeles players as he made his way to the bench.

“It felt great,” Brand said afterward. “I’ve been sitting on the side every night watching these guys compete, just saying to myself, ‘Hey, I could help here or I could help there.’

“Win or lose I just wished I could compete with them. So I went out there today, and I played well. I got a chance to play with Al (Thornton) and Corey (Maggette) and be a part of a win, too. It was really special.”

Seattle is now 1-4 on its final home stand with two games left before traveling to Texas next week to face Dallas, Houston and San Antonio.

Seattle finishes the season with its final home game against Dallas and a road game at Golden State.

Durant finished with a game-high 30 points, reaching the 30-point plateau for the fifth time this season.

Los Angeles rookie Al Thornton was just as impressive, finishing with a double-double (21 points and 10 rebounds) and playing solid defense against Durant and fellow rookie Jeff Green.

Maggette finished with 20 points and six rebounds, but played just 2:30 in the final quarter.