One Victory Made a Big Difference

Although the Clippers are in contention for their first playoff berth since 1993, guard Malik Sealy said it’s not his most exciting moment as a Clipper.

“The most exciting was two years ago, when we started out 0-16,” Sealy sad. “It felt like we won the championship when we won that game [defeating the Milwaukee Bucks]. That was exciting.

“It seemed like every single person in the league had us picked to be the worst team and to have the worst record in NBA history. Starting off 0-16 only added fuel to the fire. When we won that game, we shut a lot of people up.”

Sealy said the Clippers still don’t get much respect.

“The only way to change that is to win, and that’s what we’re doing this year,” Sealy said. “We’ll worry about this year. We don’t have to worry about what happened in the past.

“People are going to think what they think anyway. If we went 82-0, people would say, ‘Well, everyone else had a player hurt.’ ”

*

Forward Rodney Rogers, who sat out Wednesday’s victory at Vancouver because of a broken nose, wore a protective mask Friday against Toronto.

“He was fitted for a mask, but if he didn’t play I wouldn’t blame him because his nose is sore as hell,” Coach Bill Fitch said before the game.

Rogers entered the game in the second quarter and finished with three points and no rebounds in 15 minutes.