Clippers Don’t Let Streak Hit Double Digits : Pro basketball: Day off helps as Vaught leads rally against Miami, 89-84.

The Clippers’ Bill Fitch is from the old school of NBA coaches.

Fitch would practice his team on Christmas Day if it wasn’t against league rules.

But Fitch gave the Clippers a rare day off Wednesday after they arrived at LAX at 2 a.m. after a four-game, six-day trip to the frigid Midwest.

“Hopefully we can come out tonight and play well,” guard Brent Barry said before Thursday night’s game against the Miami Heat. “That’s the only way to prove to him that the day off helped.”

The rest must have helped, because the Clippers ended a nine-game losing streak with an 89-84 victory over the Heat before an announced 7,382 at the Sports Arena.

But Fitch will probably pierce his nose before he starts regularly calling off practice.

“Yesterday was an automatic,” Fitch said. “It was a given. The players don’t even consider that an off day. That’s just like not having the Fourth of July off. That was already on the schedule. As far as tomorrow, nah. I don’t know when the next one will be, probably Santa Claus.”

Forward Loy Vaught had 20 points and seven rebounds before fouling out in the fourth quarter as the Clippers (8-14) won for the first time since Nov. 22. They’re almost two months ahead of last year’s pace. They didn’t win their eighth game last season until Feb. 9.

“I’ll tell you how important this win is,” Fitch said. “I don’t have anybody that’s going to have to read 10 in a row or 11 in a row. After a while you can get caught up in that and the guys don’t get to read the paper.”

Leading, 78-68, the Clippers were outscored, 11-4, to cut the margin to 82-79 after Keith Askins made two free throws with three minutes left.

Clipper center Brian Williams, who had 14 points and seven rebounds, tore his jersey off and stormed off the court to the locker room after he was called for his sixth foul when he accidentally grabbed Askins’ jersey as they battled for a loose ball under the Clipper basket.

The Heat had a chance to tie it, but Kevin Gamble, who had a game-high 24 points, missed a jumper with 2:03 remaining and Clipper forward Lamond Murray dunked a Charles Outlaw miss for an 84-79 lead with 1:48 left.

Guard Terry Dehere, who had 10 points in 20 minutes as a reserve, made two free throws with 25 seconds left to ice it.

The Clippers, who have lost center Stanley Roberts and forward Rodney Rogers to ankle injuries, finally found a team that was more banged up.

The Heat looked more like an orthopedic ward than a basketball team, missing four starters, including center Alonzo Mourning. They had only nine sound players.

Mourning is expected to be sidelined two to three weeks because of a foot injury. Forwards Kevin Willis (sprained left arch) and Billy Owens (bruised right shoulder) and guard Sasha Danilovic (sprained right wrist) also sat out.

“We can’t do anything about the injuries,” Willis said. “All we can do is try to get better and hopefully within the next week to 10 days guys will be back in the groove of things.

“If it’s going to happen, we’d rather it happen now than later in the season. Hopefully, we can get by this and not lose a lot of ground.”

After winning 11 of its first 14 games under new Coach Pat Riley, Miami (12-8) has lost five of six after losing its starting front line.

The Clippers, who trailed by 12 points two minutes into the third quarter, ended the quarter with a 30-10 spurt to take a 70-62 lead. Vaught had eight points in the run, making three jumpers and two free throws after a flagrant foul by Bimbo Coles.

Outlaw, who came into the game shooting 33% from the free throw line, ended the spurt by making two free throws and a jumper with one second left.

The Clippers shot a season-high 75% in the third quarter, making nine of 12 shots, and outscored the Heat, 32-16. Vaught had 10 points in the quarter, making all three of his shots, and Malik Sealy made three of four shots as he scored six of his 19 points in the quarter.

“It was great to get a win,” Sealy said. “Defense is what did it. We got some key stops in the second half.”

Clipper Notes

Guard Brent Barry, who had played only 17 minutes in his last two games, sat out the second half because of a bruised right knee. Barry had three assists in three minutes in the second quarter before he limped off the court.