Clippers Get Rapt Up by Stoudamire

The Clippers found out why Toronto Raptor point guard Damon Stoudamire is being hailed as the rookie of the year.

Stoudamire, a questionable starter because of tendinitis in his knees, made a key three-point shot that clinched a 104-103 overtime victory over the Clippers before 21,135.

Stoudamire’s three-point basket with 43 seconds left held up. The Clippers, who cut the lead to 104-103 on Brent Barry’s running jumper with 29 seconds to play, couldn’t convert three tries under the basket in the final seconds.

“Damon’s so quick, he’s tough to cover,” Clipper guard Terry Dehere said. “But he’s especially tough because he can hit that jumper too.”

Stoudamire finished with 29 points and 12 assists to help the Raptors to their only season sweep in their inaugural year. The Raptors defeated the Clippers, 119-113, in overtime on Feb. 3.

“This was a carbon copy of our first game,” Raptor Coach Brendan Malone said. “But this one was definitely one of the fun games of the season.”

Dehere, one of seven Clippers to reach double figures in scoring, made a 12-foot jumper for two of his 19 points and a 97-95 lead with seven seconds left in regulation.

But Oliver Miller, who came within one block of a triple-double--he had 18 points, 15 rebounds and a club-record nine blocks--made a turnaround jumper with 0.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime.

“Oliver is a very talented player who often gets overlooked,” said Tracy Murray, who led the Raptors with 30 points. “But there aren’t too many guys in this league who can do the things he can do.”

Carlos Rogers was also a force for the Raptors, scoring 20 points and pulling down 11 rebounds for his first double-double of the season.

Loy Vaught, who scored 18 points and added 14 rebounds, figured it was the Clippers’ game to win.

“We should have taken it in regulation time,” Vaught said. “We just ended up on the wrong end of the stick.”

Clipper Notes

This was a bit of a homecoming for the franchise. Originally the Buffalo Braves, the club played 16 games (11-5) in Toronto during their years in Buffalo. . . . Brent Barry went 0 for 3 from three-point range and still needs two more three-point baskets to tie Wesley Person (116, in 1994-95) for third on the rookie list for successful three-pointers in a season. However, he is unlikely to catch the leader, Toronto’s Damon Stoudamire, who passed Dennis Scott’s mark (125, 1990-91) last month and now has 133.