Dehere Is on Mark, Helps Clippers Win

When Clipper guard Terry Dehere came out to shoot before Thursday night’s game against the Sacramento Kings, his teammates were gathered at the basket in front of the Clipper bench, so he went down to the other basket in order to get in more shots.

The extra work paid off as Dehere made six three-point shots to tie a franchise record and scored 19 points as a reserve as the Clippers won their second consecutive game, 122-110, before an announced 8,680 at the Sports Arena.

“Terry was on fire tonight,” said Clipper center Brian Williams, who had 19 points and 12 rebounds. “Any time you come off the bench shooting like that it’s a hell of a boost for your team. He wanted the ball tonight, but what’s new?

“Terry will tell you, he’s a scorer, he wants to score. I’m not trying to dog him. He had a great game. Tonight everything he was putting up was butter.”

Dehere made six of nine shots in 24 minutes. Only one shot he took wasn’t a three-pointer.

“Dehere had a great night from the outside,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “It’s too bad he had the defensive assignment he did [checking King guard Mitch Richmond, who had 29 points] or he might have stayed out there and broke a few three-point records for us.”

A converted shooting guard, Dehere reverted to form against the Kings.

“All shooters get into a groove like that where they feel good about their shots,” Dehere said. “Everything was mechanically right and I just wanted to ride it out. I was a shooter before anything.”

Forward Loy Vaught had 23 points and nine rebounds a as the Clippers (19-37) beat the Kings for the second time in three games this season.

“I don’t know whether we were home tonight or on the road, but it was nice to know that we can go home tonight and sleep in our own beds,” Fitch said.

The Kings (25-29), who ended an 11-game losing streak by beating the New York Knicks Wednesday night, have lost 12 of their last 13 games.

The Clippers, who led by 106-93, were outscored 14-6 as the Kings cut it to 112-107. Richmond had 11 points in the final quarter as the Kings rallied. But the Clippers scored eight consecutive points to hold off the Kings as Williams made two free throws with 1:35 remaining, Rodney Rogers made a layup with 1:03 left, Vaught made two free throws with 51 seconds remaining and Pooh Richardson made two free throws with 36 seconds left.

Clipper Notes

Andy Roeser, the Clippers’ executive vice president, said the Clippers, who are playing 10 games at the Pond of Anaheim this season, have applied to the NBA to play a series of games there again next season, but declined to say how many games the Clippers will play in Orange County next season until it is approved by the NBA Board of Governors at their April meeting. “We have filed the appropriate paperwork with the league today,” Roeser said. “We’ll make an announcement after it is approved by the Board of Governors.”

Center Brian Williams, a free agent at the end of the season, said if the Clippers move to Anaheim, it would affect his decision to return. Williams has previously said that he prefers playing at the Sports Arena to playing in Anaheim. “You know where I want to play, right out there,” Williams said, pointing to the Sports Arena court. “I live in Los Angeles County. I like the fact that our owner wants to stay here as much as I do. I said the other day, arenas don’t win games.”

Guard Sarunas Marciulionis, who was sidelined for 14 games after having arthroscopic surgery last month, strained his right leg with 8:01 remaining in the second quarter and sat out the rest of the game. . . . Terry Dehere tied the Clipper single-game three-point shooting record shared by Norm Nixon and Brent Barry.