Finally, the Clippers Have a Streak They Can Be Proud Of

The Clippers aren’t the same team that began the season 0-17.

The New Jersey Nets had just made a run and cut the Clippers’ lead to five points midway through the third quarter. On the Clippers’ first play after a timeout, Maurice Taylor and Sherman Douglas ran a perfect backdoor play that resulted in a wide-open layup.

Easy baskets like that were missing for the Clippers when they needed them two months ago. Nor were the Clippers able to put away teams they should defeat at home the way they did Tuesday night in a 109-101 victory over the Nets before 6,218 at the Sports Arena.

Douglas’ basket triggered a 16-7 run and helped the Clippers to record back-to-back wins for the first time since the first week of 1998. The victory was their third in four games as New Jersey--which was led by Keith Van Horne with 33 points--joined Sacramento, Utah, Portland and Minnesota on the “I can’t believe we lost to the Clippers” list.

As is custom, the Clippers didn’t make things easy for themselves, letting the Nets back in the game early in the fourth quarter. After taking a commanding 18-point lead late in the third, the Clippers found themselves barely ahead at 99-94 with nearly three minutes remaining.

But the Clippers aren’t the same team that used to fold at the first sign of trouble.

Lamond Murray made two clutch three-point baskets. Douglas stole the ball from the Nets’ Stephon Marbury and made two free throws, and Michael Olowokandi grabbed an important offensive rebound to lead the Clippers down the stretch as they reached a season high for points in a game.

“With each win you get confidence,” said Murray, who had a team-high 22 points on seven-for-11 shooting off the bench. “When we beat Minnesota for the second time, that gave us confidence and we’ve been a roll pretty much since then. Except for [a blowout loss to Portland] but we came back the next night and beat them at home and that gave us even more confidence. We’re just trying to ride that wave of confidence.”

Five Clippers scored in double figures, with Tyrone Nesby and Taylor getting 18. Eric Piatkowski had 17 on seven-for-12 shooting and Douglas had a strong game with 18 points and six assists.

“We’re being more aggressive and our confidence is at a high level,” said Taylor, who added 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. “We’re playing well down the stretch and that’s usually where we would lose games. Now, we’re staying together and making the plays we need to make to win games.”

After the Clippers’ horrendous start, it may be difficult to believe they are on the verge of catching Vancouver and losing the tag as the league’s worst team. The Clippers are 6-31 and Vancouver, idle Tuesday, is 7-31.

The Net team the Clippers faced surely did not look like the team that began training camp in New Jersey with so much promise.

John Calipari is no longer the Nets’ coach. He was replaced by former Clipper coach Don Casey after New Jersey struggled out of the blocks with injuries and poor play. Sam Cassell isn’t the Nets’ point guard of the future. That title now belongs to Marbury, who was acquired from Minnesota in a blockbuster trade.

New Jersey still has Van Horne, however, and he gave the Clippers all they could handle; primarily, he made 14 of 16 free throws. Marbury scored 23 points and had eight assists but his shot selection did not help the Nets’ cause in the final minutes.

Clipper Coach Chris Ford knows all about bad play late in games. He’s seen enough of it with his team this year. Now, however, Ford is getting a chance to see his team finally play together.

“These guys have not really given up at any time,” Ford said. “They’ve been staying together, trying to do the right things and we’re finally seeing some light here at the end of the tunnel. We just have to keep it going.

“We have to build upon this and finish the season strong. We have to look at who we want to keep and try to bring back for next season. There’re certainly some guys who are trying to make statements with their play.”

On Thursday, the Clippers will go for three in a row against Utah, which they easily defeated last month.