Williams Inspires Clippers to 108-103 Win : Pro basketball: Center has season-high 19 points and eight rebounds against his former team, the Denver Nuggets.

After trading Alabama forward Antonio McDyess, the No. 2 pick in the NBA draft, to the Denver Nuggets for center Brian Williams, forward Rodney Rogers and guard Brent Barry in a controversial draft-day deal, Clipper Coach Bill Fitch insisted that Williams was the key to the trade.

“We played all year last year without a center,” Fitch said. “We looked through all the back-up centers in the league, and the more I watched film on Brian I thought this guy can play center in this league. In time, I think he can be an outstanding center.”

Facing the Nuggets for the first time since the trade, Williams had a season-high 19 points, eight rebounds and a season-high five assists as the Clippers extended Denver’s season-opening losing streak to six games with a 108-103 victory Sunday night before an announced crowd of 7,360 at the Sports Arena.

Williams, who hugged Nugget guard Jalen Rose as he walked off the court, seemed elated after beating his old team.

“He was motivated and he should have been,” Rose said. “He had something to prove to us.”

But Williams said playing Denver did not provide extra incentive.

“There’s no lingering bitterness,” he said. “When I left Orlando, there wasn’t a lot of love lost, and with Denver there was.”

Fitch thought it was Williams’ best game.

“He played with emotion,” Fitch said of Williams, who made seven of 10 shots. “He played like he was glad to be here.

“If you remember, the first week I said he was a very competitive person, and it showed tonight. He’s got a burning fire in him to win. He probably came to the ballpark tonight with a little bit more dedication toward that than some of the others because he’s got a great deal of pride.”

Williams made three of four free throws in the final 12 seconds as the Clippers, who squandered a 13-point fourth-quarter lead, held off the Nuggets.

Matched against Nugget center Dikembe Mutombo, Williams, who had missed 14 of 18 shots in his last two games, made his first seven shots, including a third-quarter dunk over Mutombo.

After dunking, Williams, who is left-handed, made a right-handed hook after faking Mutombo with a nifty spin move.

“Brian played great,” said Mutombo, who had 17 points, 18 rebounds and four blocked shots. “Any time you get traded, you hold something against that team. He played really hard.”

The other players involved in the deal weren’t as big a factor as Williams. McDyess, for example, had nine points and six rebounds in 30 minutes, including two acrobatic dunks, but missed eight of 12 shots.

“I still think McDyess is going to be a heck of a player,” Fitch said. “You make trades that are best for everyone. That trade was best for us and I’m sure that Bernie [Bickerstaff, Denver’s coach and team president] in the long run will be the first to give you all the reasons they made it and it was good for them. You can’t judge a trade by one game or one season.”

Off to their best start since 1993-93, the Clippers (3-3) had to work to win their second game in a row, squandering a 99-86 lead.

“It seems like we get these 10-point leads and we lose them in 2 1/2 minutes,” said swingman Eric Piatkowski, who scored 11 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter. ‘We can’t continue to do that if we expect to win any games. We’ve just been fortunate.”

Off to their worst start since 1990-91, when they lost their first seven games, the Nuggets are still trying to adjust to the loss of Williams and Rogers.

“Every day I wake up in the morning and look at myself in the mirror and ask myself, ‘What’s going on?’ ” Mutombo said. “Hopefully, I will find the true answer.”

Williams has been the true answer to the Clippers’ problems at center.