Clippers at Odds With Longshot Designation

A Las Vegas oddsmaker listed the Clippers as a 200-to-1 shot to win the NBA championship.

But those odds may be high.

Expected to be the doormats of the NBA, the Clippers looked surprisingly good in their season opener, beating the Golden State Warriors, 97-85, Friday night before a crowd of 15,593 at the San Jose Arena.

“We know who we are,” said Clipper guard Pooh Richardson, who had 16 points and nine assists. “We can’t really worry what the papers say about us. We know if we’re good enough to play. We don’t have to worry about the papers and oddsmakers.”

It was the first time the Clippers won a season opener on the road since 1985-86, when they beat the Sacramento Kings, 108-104.

“I can’t say I’m surprised,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “I’m pleased. With opening night, you never know what’s going to happen.

“We’ve played well like that for spurts in the exhibition season with different combinations, but tonight we sustained it with every combination and we got a lift from the bench.”

Of course the Warriors, who haven’t made the playoffs for the last two seasons, aren’t exactly the Lakers. So tonight’s home opener against the Utah Jazz should provide more of a test for the Clippers, who have made three consecutive trips to the NBA draft lottery.

Who needs free-agent center Brian Williams?

Opening the season without Williams, who hasn’t signed, Clipper centers Kevin Duckworth, Stanley Roberts and Bo Outlaw outscored Warrior centers Todd Fuller and Clifford Rozier, 19-8.

Duckworth, a longshot to make the Clippers after signing with the team for the NBA minimum of $247,500 last month, opened the season in the starting lineup and had eight points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.

“That was my first time starting in a long time,” Duckworth said. “I missed some easy shots. I was a little nervous. I didn’t feel like I played well, but I contributed.”

Outlaw had nine points and eight rebounds in 24 minutes and Roberts had two points and four rebounds in nine minutes.

The Clipper reserves outscored Warrior reserves, 37-13, including a 23-5 edge in the first half.

Guard Darrick Martin and forward Lamond Murray had 13 points.

“I’m not surprised by how well we played,” said Murray, who made five of 11 shots and had seven rebounds before fouling out. “I felt everybody picked up their game and we came out and played great defense and forced them to take bad shots.”

Martin, the former UCLA guard who signed with the Clippers in September, made three of seven shots.

“This is what we can do when we’re focused and share the ball,” Martin said. “When we play good team defense like that, we’re hard to stop.”

The Clippers held the Warriors to 43 points in the second half. Golden State shot only 36%.

Forward Loy Vaught, who last season became the first Clipper since Michael Cage to average in double figures in points and rebounds, had 19 points and 14 rebounds and guard Malik Sealy had 15 points and eight rebounds.

The Clippers, who looked awful at times in the exhibition season, losing six of eight games, opened an 81-69 lead four minutes into the fourth quarter.

Golden State guards Mark Price and Latrell Sprewell, who had 29 points, made consecutive three-point baskets to make the score 81-75. But the Clippers ended the game with a 16-10 spurt.

Leading by one point in the third quarter, the Clippers ended the quarter with a 16-7 spurt to open a 75-65 lead going into the final quarter.

Richardson had 10 points in the third quarter, making four of five shots, including a three-point basket with four seconds left in the quarter. The Clippers, who shot 66.7% in the first 9 1/2 minutes of the third quarter, made 12 of 21 shots (57.1%) in the quarter.