Clippers Frustrate Warriors

Chris Mullin had a ball.

Ejected after drawing an offensive foul with the Golden State Warriors trailing the Clippers by five points with 1:38 remaining Monday night at the Sports Arena, Mullin stormed off the court with the ball in disgust.

Mullin drew a technical foul and the Clippers, who were doing their best to blow the lead, hung on for a 112-106 victory to end a four-game losing streak before an announced crowd of 6,260.

“That’s the first time I’ve ever seen anything like that,” Clipper forward Rodney Rogers said. “Normally, a guy that does something like that gets two technicals, but he was already ejected.”

Mullin, who missed 11 of 16 shots, said he was frustrated.

“I just happened to have the ball so I took it with me when I left,” Mullin said. “I was frustrated with myself.”

The Clippers fell behind by 15 points in the first half as Latrell Sprewell scored 28 of his 41 points.

But Coach Bill Fitch juggled the lineup at halftime, replacing Darrick Martin with Brent Barry and Charles Outlaw with Rodney Rogers.

The move seemed to rejuvenate the Clippers, who outscored the Warriors, 15-2, during a 4 1/2-minute spurt in the third quarter to get back into the game.

“I guess he got tired of the five guys in the first half and decided to go with something different,” said Rogers, who had 16 points and eight rebounds in 32 minutes.

“We’d lost four tough ones in a row. This win couldn’t have come at a better time. The Warriors are chasing us [for the final Western Conference playoff spot], so this was important to maintain our lead.

The Clippers shot 55% in the third quarter and outscored the Warriors, 29-19, as Loy Vaught and Malik Sealy scored eight points each.

“Fitch didn’t say anything at halftime, he just spit fire,” said Sealy, who broke out of a shooting slump by making six of nine shots and scoring 14 points.

Vaught had 22 points and 11 rebounds, rookie center Lorenzen Wright had a season-high 17 points and 10 rebounds and Terry Dehere had 15 points as the Clipper defeated the Warriors for the third time.

As is their custom, the Clippers tried to squander the lead in the fourth quarter.

Dehere was called for a flagrant foul on Sprewell with three minutes left. Sprewell made two free throws and Donyell Marshall made a free throw with 2:49 remaining after he was fouled on the Warriors ensuing possession to cut the Clipper lead to 101-97.

But Mullin’s tirade helped the Clippers keep their cool.

The Warriors had played better team defense recently, beating the Orlando Magic, 108-101, Friday and defeating the Sacramento Kings by four points Sunday night. The Kings had won 10 of 11 games from the Warriors.

“It’s not a night off, I’ll tell you that,” Fitch said before the game. “They beat us the last time we played.”

In the midst of their best three-game stretch of the season, the Warriors took a 24-21 lead at the end of the first quarter.

Three Clipper starters got into foul trouble in the first quarter as Martin, Wright and Outlaw drew two fouls.

The Clippers shot only 36% and had five turnovers in the first quarter and fell behind by 15 points in the second quarter.

Sprewell, who made a career-high 22 of 25 free throws, made his first seven shots and scored 28 points in the first half. It was the most an opposing player has scored against the Clippers in a half this season.

Neither Sealy or Dehere could guard Sprewell, who scored 16 consecutive points at the end of the first quarter and the start of the second. Eric Piatkowski drew the assignment in the second quarter and got three fouls in three minutes.