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Saturday, Apr. 15 11:00pm ET
Van Exel scores 44, crushes Clips in OT | |||||
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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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 GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- As if the season wasn't already bad enough for the hapless Los Angeles Clippers, they finally got a chance to lose in overtime. Nick Van Exel scored a career-high 44 points and Antonio McDyess scored four of his 30 points in the final 1:15 of OT as the Denver Nuggets handed the Clippers their 16th straight loss, 115-114 Saturday night. The defeat was the Clippers' 66th -- mathematically clinching the NBA's worst record for the fourth time in the last 14 years -- and officially stamping them as the second-worst Clippers team of all time. The 1986-87 edition lost 70 games, and the franchise lost 65 games five other times. "Everything else is in the back of our minds," said rookie Lamar Odom, who missed a game-winning 17-footer at the end of regulation and misfired on a free throw that would have tied the game with five-tenths of a second left in overtime. "The season is almost over, and we want to forget it. With leading scorer Maurice Taylor missing his third consecutive game with a sore left ankle, the Clippers lost for the 44th time in 48 games and the ninth straight time at Staples Center. It is the longest home losing streak since the Buffalo Braves franchise moved to San Diego in 1978 and changed its name to the Clippers. "We had a coaching chance and we had injuries all year long -- to major players," said Derek Anderson said, who led the Clippers with 31 points. "We just never had a whole team to develop together and have a chance to grow." McDyess also had a career-high 21 rebounds for Denver, giving him his first 20-20 game in the NBA. The Nuggets have only three victories in their last 47 road games against Pacific Division teams -- all of them against the Clippers. "I think both teams really wanted to win," Van Exel said. "We wanted to win because we were tired of hearing (coach Dan Issel yell) at us. And the emotion got higher and higher as the game went on." The extra five-minute period ended a string of 87 consecutive games without overtime for the Clippers, who were the only team in the league that hadn't played an overtime game this season. Van Exel finished with eight assists to increase his season total to 695 and break Michael Adams' single-season club record by two. The Clippers took their last lead, 108-107, on a 3-pointer by Anderson with 1:28 left in overtime. The Nuggets remained the lead for good 13 seconds later on McDyess' 16-footer. McDyess then converted a missed layup by Van Exel into a dunk, and Van Exel's two free throws extended the margin to 113-108 with 25 seconds to go. The Clippers got a 3-pointer from Tyrone Nesby, who finished with 25 points, and two free throws from Anderson to trim the deficit to a point with 10 seconds left. Van Exel then made his first free throw but missed the second, giving Los Angeles another chance. McDyess fouled Odom on his way to the basket as the clock would down. Odom, a 71-percent free throw shooter, sank the first free throw. But his second bounced off the rim. "This wasn't our toughest loss. It was our best loss," Anderson said. "We finished the game and had a chance to win. So this was one of the better games I've been in all year." Game notesThe only NBA teams to have lost more games in a season than the 1986-87 Clippers were the 1997-98 Nuggets (71), the 1992-93 Dallas Mavericks (71) and the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers (73). ... McDyess, whom the Clippers drafted in June 1995 and immediately traded to Denver, is the Nuggets' leading scorer with a 19-point average. The last time anyone played at least 75 games for the Clippers and averaged more than 19 points was 1993-94, when Ron Harper averaged 20.1. ... In the 74 games Odom has played, only once has he gone an entire contest without committing a turnover. It was the second game of the season, when he played 45 flawless minutes at Portland in a 121-98 loss. | ALSO SEE NBA Scoreboard Denver Clubhouse LA Clippers Clubhouse RECAPS Milwaukee 120 Washington 116
Denver 115
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