Benjamin Is Still Clippers’ Problem : Pro basketball: He has 19 points and 12 rebounds in first home game for Milwaukee, helping Bucks score 112-103 victory.

Former Clipper center Benoit Benjamin, who has played for five teams in the last six seasons, looks comfortable in a place where he actually needs his mink coat to ward off the winter chill.

Benjamin, acquired by the Milwaukee Bucks last week from the Vancouver Grizzlies for center Eric Mobley and guard Eric Murdock, had 19 points and 12 rebounds as the Bucks handed the Clippers their sixth consecutive loss, 112-103, Thursday night before 13,718 at the Bradley Center.

“I hope I found a home here,” Benjamin said. “Hopefully I’ll be around here for a minute. We’ll just have to see what happens.”

Playing his first home game since the trade, Benjamin made five of 10 shots as the Bucks won for the third time in four games since the trade.

He got an ovation before the game.

“This is his first home game, so you know there was a little emotion and incentive when you get traded to go out [and play well],” Clipper center Brian Williams said. “They’re going to see the real Benoit in a week.”

But Benjamin, who has frustrated general managers, coaches and fans with inconsistent play in his 10-year NBA career, has given the Bucks something they lacked, a true center.

After the Clippers, who trailed by as many as 17 points in the third quarter, cut the deficit to six points with two minutes remaining, Benjamin scored four of Milwaukee’s final 10 points as the Bucks held off the Clippers.

“Benoit’s the first time we’ve had a guy here who can block shots, rebound and score in the paint,” Buck Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “It’s been positive for us.”

Dunleavy knows Benjamin’s history but isn’t concerned.

“Obviously I’ve heard all the stories, but the thing I remember most is that when I was coaching in L.A. he was a monster for us to guard,” Dunleavy said. “I used to have fits trying to figure out how we were going to double-team him and keep him from getting position. Knowing what our needs were, I felt it was worth the gamble.”

The acquisition of Benjamin has enabled Vin Baker, who had career highs of 32 points and 15 rebounds against the Clippers, to move from center to forward.

“Having Benoit is helping us a lot,” Baker said. “He creates a lot of space. With him, the lanes open a lot. There’s a lot of space to work with.”

Forward Loy Vaught, the Clippers’ leading scorer and rebounder, didn’t start because of a sore right hip. He had 19 points and 10 rebounds in 26 minutes as a reserve.

With Williams in early foul trouble, reserve center Keith Tower played the best game of his three-year career.

Tower, whose NBA statistics had consisted of 18 points in 22 games, scored a career-high 19 points, making eight of nine shots, before fouling out.

“I haven’t scored that many points since college,” said Tower, who had 23 points against Dayton during his junior season at Notre Dame. “I made shots, which is a positive, but I made some critical mistakes coming down the stretch, so overall I’m not very happy with the way I played. You’ve got to consistently play smart mentally.”

Guard Pooh Richardson, who sat out the Clippers’ first 17 games because of a stress fracture in his left foot, didn’t score in five minutes as a reserve in his season debut. He had one assist.

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Clipper Notes

The game was a homecoming for rookie forward Logan Vander Velden, who played at Wisconsin Green Bay and grew up in Valders, Wis. Although Vander Velden had played only 19 minutes in the Clippers’ first 17 games, he did three TV interviews before the game and two busloads of fans from Valders came to the game to see him play. “It’ll probably be pretty much of a ghost town,” Vander Velden said of his hometown.