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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- This time, the Los Angeles Clippers were for
real.
After giving the Lakers a scare in three previous games, the
Clippers beat their Staples Center roommates 118-95 Sunday night
for the first time in nearly four years.
|  | | The Clippers' Michael Olowokandi collects a second-quarter rebound before crashing into teammate Lamar Odom. |
"So far, it's the biggest game of the year for us," said Lamar
Odom, who scored a season-high 29 points.
The Clippers got big efforts from reserves Cherokee Parks (13
points), Earl Boykins (11 in his first game of the season), and
Eric Piatkowski (10).
"It's not a big deal where guys need to be jumping up and down
and acting like we won a world championship," Piatkowski said.
"We're supposed to win games like this. We have the talent on this
team now to win games."
The Clippers outshot and outrebounded the defending NBA
champions to end a 16-game losing streak against the Lakers. Their
last win over the Lakers was on March 14, 1997, at the Forum.
"We are excited about beating them, but it still only counts
for one win," first-year Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "It
gives us a little credibility and it gives us something to build
on."
The Clippers had lost their other three meetings with the
Lakers, including an overtime defeat Dec. 30, but this time they
didn't stumble even when the Lakers got within eight points with
5:31 remaining.
"The difference this time was defense and bracing ourselves for
when they made their run," Odom said. "Hopefully, this is the
start of a new beginning for us."
Robert Horry stripped the ball from Corey Maggette and whipped a
pass into Shaquille O'Neal, who dunked after missing two free
throws on his previous possession, to make it 100-92.
But the Clippers scored the next eight points and quickly put
the game out of reach to snap a two-game losing skid.
"For a stretch, they looked like the old Clippers," Horry
said. "They threw one out of bounds, they threw a couple bad
passes, but they shook that off and came back and held us off.
That's the sign of a team maturing. I think they're going to be
pretty good."
The Lakers had won three straight and eight of their last nine,
but they were clearly lethargic against one of the league's
youngest teams. The Clippers shot 56 percent and controlled the
boards, 47-33.
"They got us good," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They
outplayed us in almost every aspect of the game. The shooting was
great, their bench was terrific; we couldn't stop anybody off their
bench."
O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were a two-man show for the Lakers.
O'Neal had 33 points and 20 rebounds despite fouling out for the
second straight time against the Clippers and third game in a row,
while Bryant had 27 points.
"We played Shaq with a couple fouls and I think it inhibited
his defensive aggressiveness. He got a couple of ticky-tack
fouls," Jackson said. "His third foul was kind of questionable,
but it put us in a defensive stance and we played a defensive game
instead of aggressive."
The Lakers shot 43 percent and O'Neal was just 9-for-20 from the
line after improving to 33-for-75 in his previous five games.
"They won a game," O'Neal said. "I'm not impressed by that.
They played great ball. You know, we played awful ball. Usually
when we play awful ball against this team, we still can beat them.
They played great, but I'm not impressed."
The Clippers stretched a seven-point halftime lead into a
17-point bulge with a 20-10 run that opened the third quarter.
Quentin Richardson scored off a steal, Odom beat the shot clock
with a 3-pointer and Richardson added a 3-pointer for a 74-57 lead
with 5:52 remaining.
After that, the Lakers made just one basket the rest of the
quarter, but hit 13 of 15 free throws with O'Neal on the bench with
five fouls and trailed 88-73 going into the fourth quarter.
Game notes
The Clippers placed G Keyon Dooling on the injured list
with viral syndrome and activated Boykins, who was on the IL with a
bruised left knee. ... The Lakers still won the season series 3-1.
... The Clippers' bench is the best in the league. Coming into the
game, it was outscoring opponents' reserves by 15 points a game.
... Bryant was a rookie the last time the Lakers lost to the
Clippers. Piatkowski is the only holdover from that team.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
LA Clippers Clubhouse
LA Lakers Clubhouse
Director: Searching for reasons to be a Clippers fan
FROM
ATHLETESDIRECT
Kobe Bryant Official Site
Rick Fox Official Site
Mark Madsen Official Site
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