Elton Brand

Brand has 33 points, 17 rebounds, leads Clippers over Heat 101 97

The Los Angeles Clippers were struggling, so they've gone back to the tried and true _ give Elton Brand the ball.

Brand had 33 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Clippers to a 101-97 victory over the Miami Heat on Tuesday night.

It was his second fine performance in a row, and the second consecutive win for the Clippers after they lost six of seven.

``It's my time,'' said Brand, who hadn't been playing as significant an offensive role as in past seasons. ``We're at kind of a crossroads. We needed to win. Being at .500 is OK for some teams, but we have some lofty goals.''

After making the second round of the playoffs last season, the Clippers are off to a 9-8 start, including 0-6 on the road.

``What we were doing wasn't working,'' Brand said. ``I needed some touches. I don't mind taking two shots a game if we win, but we needed to mix it up.''

He scored six points during a 19-6 run in the first six minutes of the second half as the Clippers pulled out to a 68-54 lead and they stayed in front _ barely _ the rest of the way.

Brand hit an 11-footer that made it 94-91 with 51 seconds remaining after Dwayne Wade's four consecutive free throws cut the lead to one point. Wade missed a layup with 41 seconds left, and Brand was there to get the rebound.

Alonzo Mourning fouled him, and Brand made both free throws. The Clippers went on to hit 7-of-8 from the line in the final 41 seconds.

``It was one of those nights when Elton Brand was incredible,'' Miami coach Pat Riley said. ``He was just so efficient as a player. He just did us in.''

The double-double was the ninth of the season for Brand, who went 13-of-18 from the floor after going 12-of-14 from the field and scoring 31 in the Clippers' 116-91 win over Orlando two nights earlier.

``When I'm hot like that, I don't feel like I'm going to miss,'' said Brand, who made a variety of put-backs, layups and jumpers.

``It's always difficult to control Elton Brand,'' said Wade, who scored 33 points. ``It seems like Elton has a good game every time he plays against us.

``He's one of the toughest covers in the league. He's very poised, he knows how to get to the bucket and he knocks down shots. He's one of the best players in the NBA and he showed it tonight.''

Cuttino Mobley added 21 points for Los Angeles, and Shaun Livingston had 11 points and seven assists.

Mourning had 16 points and 11 rebounds for Miami, and Udonis Haslem had 12 points and 12 rebounds.

The Heat went just 3-of-25 from three-point range, while the Clippers also made three, but in only 10 tries.

``We got great looks, but the shots just didn't fall,'' said Wade, who was 1-of-3 from beyond the arc. ``If we can get those looks every night, we'll take them. I don't care how many shots you miss in a row.''

The Clippers overcame a five-point deficit in the final 2:37 of the second quarter to take a 45-44 lead into halftime. Brand had 13 points, nine rebounds and two assists in the first half.

Wade had 15 by halftime.

Notes: Heat G Gary Payton, who missed Saturday's 98-97 victory at Memphis with an ear infection, scored seven points against Los Angeles but was 0-for-5 in three-point tries. ... Miami C Shaquille O'Neal, recovering from surgery on his left knee, wasn't at the at the game. O'Neal, who played in Staples Center for the Clippers' co-tenants, the Los Angeles Lakers, is expected to be out until at least Dec. 23. ... The Clippers and Heat split their series last season. ... Miami assistant Bob McAdoo played in 1972-77 for the Buffalo Braves, who moved to California in 1978 and became the San Diego Clippers, then shifted to Los Angeles in 1984.

Elton Brand has hot hand with 31 points, leads Clippers over Magic 116 91

Elton Brand helped the Los Angeles Clippers take back some of their turf.

Brand scored 31 points Sunday night and the Clippers rebounded from a home loss one night earlier to the crosstown rival Lakers by beating an Orlando Magic team that was treating every floor as its own.

Brand shot 12-for-14 from the field in a 116-91 Clippers' victory that snapped the Magic's seven-game winning streak.

``We had to reclaim the home court,'' Brand said. ``Especially against the number one team in the East, who had won some games on the road already. They were very hot.''

Tim Thomas added 20 points, shooting 5-for-7 from three-point range for the Clippers.

It was the biggest victory margin of the season for the Clippers (8-8), and the Magic's worst losing margin.

``I feel like for 48 minutes we played a really good game, maybe our best game of the year,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said.

Dwight Howard had 16 points and Hedo Turkoglu added 15 for Orlando, which had its roughest night by far on what had been a stellar road trip.

``We didn't come out prepared to play tonight,'' said the Magic's Keyon Dooling. ``They beat us in every facet of the game.''

Orlando (13-5), which still has the best record in the Eastern Conference, was 3-0 on the current trip and had won four straight on the road overall. The Magic have lost just twice in 12 games.

Their four-game road winning streak had matched the second longest in team history and included a win over the West-leading Utah Jazz and a last-second victory over the Portland Trailblazers.

The Clippers led by 17 at halftime, and the Magic were within single digits just twice in the second half.

Corey Maggette added 17 points and Sam Cassell had 13 for the Clippers, who shot 60.3 per cent from the field.

Brand, who had 17 points in the first quarter and 21 in the first half, hit jumpers from all over the floor and finished two points short of his season high.

``Something had to give, something had to change, so I had to be aggressive,'' Brand said. ``This is the first step in getting back our winning ways.''

Dunleavy said that the Brand he saw Sunday night reminded him of the player that led his team to its best-ever season in Los Angeles last year.

``He's got a lot of bounce back in his step and he looked confident in his shot,'' Dunleavy said. ``That's what we got used to seeing last year.''

Orlando opened the second half with a 14-5 run, capped by Darko Milicic's dunk off Grant Hill's assist, to cut the Clippers' lead to 71-63.

But Thomas then made three-pointers at both ends of a 14-6 run that put the Clippers up 85-69 with 3:33 to go in the third quarter.

``To our credit we came out in the third quarter and played much harder,'' Orlando coach Brian Hill said, ``but they continued to make shots.''

It was never close in the fourth quarter.

Cassell hit a running jumper with 5:48 to play that put the Clippers up 19 and Brand made a free throw to take the lead to 20.

Cassell, the Clippers' leading scorer, was left out of the starting lineup for the first time since opening night.

He came into a close game late in the first quarter and quickly took control.

Cassell had three assists and four points in an 18-11 run to open the second quarter as the Clippers took a 15-point lead 53-38 with 5:58 to play in the half.

Brand hit a 16-foot jumper with 2:10 to play to give the Clippers an 18-point lead, their biggest of the half.

Notes: The Clippers have won four straight against the Magic. ... The Magic will complete their longest trip of the season with games in Sacramento on Monday night and Indiana on Wednesday night.

Elton Brand scores 32 points as Clippers beat Sixers 103 97 in OT

Allen Iverson and his Philadelphia 76ers tried to ruin Sam Cassell's 37th birthday. Elton Brand and Corey Maggette wouldn't let them.

Brand had 32 points and 12 rebounds and Maggette added 21 points for the Los Angeles Clippers, who capitalized on the absence of Chris Webber and rallied Saturday night for a 103-97 overtime victory that made them 6-0 at home.

``They are a great basketball team,'' Iverson said. ``They have what you need to win in this league. They have a grown man playing power forward (Brand). They have young talent, leadership in Sam Cassell, a great pickup in Tim Thomas, players who know their role, and an effective centre.''

The Clippers have won their first six home games for the first time in the franchise's 37-year history _ including six seasons in San Diego and eight as the Buffalo Braves. The team started a season 5-0 at home only three other times _ last season, 1983-84 in San Diego, and 1988-89 at the L.A. Sports Arena.

``I'm part of a lot of Clipper history now, so I enjoy it. Just keep stacking 'em up,'' Brand said. ``It's special _ and disappointing at the same time, because we should never have had to be in a position to have to claw and fight back.''

The Clippers, who went more than 10 minutes without a field goal in the second half of Tuesday's 112-90 loss at Utah, made only two of their first 15 shots against Philadelphia and committed seven of their 23 turnovers while the Sixers opened the game with a 25-9 run.

``This was a game we were supposed to have,'' Iverson said. ``We went up 16 points and we tried to fix something that wasn't broken. We let them back in the game. We had all the momentum going our way, and then we switched up what we were doing.''

Cassell, who came in leading the Clippers with a 19.6 scoring average, was 3-for-13 from the field and finished with 12 points in 29 minutes. He missed his first seven shots and appeared to have ended the drought with a jumper from the key with 3:48 left in the second quarter. But referee Bennett Salvatore waved it off because of an offensive foul against Cassell _ who received a quick technical from Salvatore for arguing.

``It's my job to get us where we need to go,'' Cassell said. ``It's sickening to me sometimes to see the execution, but we're winning games just by grinding it out. And that says something for this ballclub. After all we didn't do, we still won the game. I never thought once that we were going to lose this ballgame.''

Iverson had 29 points and nine assists for the 76ers, who led most of the way but couldn't quite compensate for the loss of Webber due to stiffness in his back. Forward Shavlik Randolph made his second start in the NBA and first this season in Webber's place, scoring eight points in 19 minutes.

Kyle Korver hit a 17-footer and a three-pointer 54 seconds apart to give the Sixers a 95-93 lead with 2:44 left in OT. But the Clippers tied it on Thomas' baseline jumper and pulled ahead 97-95 on two free throws by Cassell with 1:32 left. The teams traded baskets before Maggette hit one of two free throws for a 100-97 margin with 21 seconds to go.

Korver missed a three-pointer from the right sideline off an inbounds pass from Kevin Ollie, and Brand made three of four free throws in the final 17 seconds to cap a game-ending 10-2 run.

``I don't care how we got it. We won,'' Maggette said. ``We were sloppy in the first half and we didn't do anything right. We had turnovers here and there, but ultimately we made shots in the second half.''

The Clippers didn't take their first lead until Maggette sank two free throws for a 78-77 edge with 5:18 left in regulation. Korver quieted the raucous crowd of 18,470 momentarily with a three-pointer from the left corner 17 seconds later, but Thomas hit a layup at the other end and Maggette drained a 21-footer for an 82-80 edge after Iverson threw up 18-foot airball from the left sideline.

Notes: According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Cassell's teams are 6-1 on his birthday since he entered the NBA in 1993-94. The only loss was to Toronto in 2000 when he was with Milwaukee. ... Only five players who were on an NBA opening-night roster are older than Cassell _ Dikembe Mutombo (40), Cliff Robinson (39), Gary Payton (38), Dale Davis (37 years, eight months) and P.J. Brown (37 years, 1 month). ... Philadelphia has lost nine of its last 11 games against the Clippers in Los Angeles, including four straight. But the 76ers have beaten them the last nine times at home and will try to extend that streak on Feb. 9.