Clippers’ Fortunes Rising Some in the East

Loy Vaught knows the playoffs are, at best, a distant hope. Still, he likes what he’s seen lately from his Clipper teammates.

Vaught had a game-high 22 points and 14 rebounds as the Clippers beat the Washington Bullets, 92-89, Friday night for their fourth victory in six games.

“We’re maturing. Everything’s on schedule,” said Vaught, noting that the Clippers are 2-1 on a five-game road trip, their longest of the season.

“This is a learning process.”

The Clippers had lost seven of eight on the road before this trip.

Rodney Rogers scored 20 points, including a spinning baseline layup with 16.8 seconds left in the game that broke an 89-89 tie.

Pooh Richardson added 15 points, including the first six of a 10-0 run early in the fourth quarter that erased a 71-68 Washington advantage.

“Any time you win two games on a road trip, you’ve got to be happy,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “We’re happy to get this one, because we felt going in that Washington was the toughest of the teams we were going to play.”

Juwan Howard and Calbert Cheaney each scored 20 points for the Bullets, who had won four in a row and nine of 12 against the Clippers.

Cheaney had seven points during Washington’s fourth-quarter comeback, but his bid to tie the game at 91 on a 15-foot jumper missed, as did his three-point try at the buzzer. Earlier, Cheaney hit two free throws with 29.6 seconds left, tying the game, 89-89.

Brent Price added 15 points for the Bullets. Washington’s bench was outscored, 21-9.

“It’s a game we needed big time,” said Coach Jim Lynam, whose Bullets are 10th in the Eastern Conference and fighting for the final playoff spot. “We needed somebody off the bench to step up. We needed somebody to score, somebody to give us an offensive boost.”

Rogers had 10 points in the first period, and the Clippers used an 8-0 run at the end of the quarter to sprint to a 32-23 lead. Terry Dehere made two three-point baskets during the spurt, which came after Howard, who had 14 first-half points, cut the Clippers’ lead to 24-23.

Vaught had nine points over the final seven minutes of the first half, as the Clippers expanded their lead to 12. But Washington whittled away at the lead, trimming it to 52-47 on a basket by Muresan with 27.7 seconds remaining in the half.

That basket started a 13-0 Bullet run that carried into the third quarter, allowing Washington to take a 57-52 lead.

The Clippers outscored the Bullets, 16-10, over the remainder of the period, and Richardson’s jumper with 1:00 left gave them a 68-67 edge entering the fourth quarter.

The Bullets were hampered by the loss of center Gheorghe Muresan and forward Rasheed Wallace, both of whom fouled out in the final 7:05.