Clippers Finally Get Out of Blocks

It wasn’t pretty, but rookie Lamar Odom will take it.

It wasn’t artistic, but Maurice Taylor will not complain.

It didn’t come against one of the league’s elite teams, but Coach Chris Ford will not give it back.

The Clippers, who began last season losing their first 17 games, finally won one, even though they had to do it the difficult way, defeating the struggling Philadelphia 76ers, 91-81, Friday night.

A Staples Center crowd of 14,271 watched the Clippers run out to a 19-point lead early in the fourth quarter and then hold on against a late Philadelphia rally to improve to 1-2.

On a night in which Allen Iverson, the 76ers’ all-star guard, had an off game with 21 points on six-of-16 shooting, the Clippers set a franchise record with 19 blocked shots to overcome 29 turnovers.

“They just seemed to have somebody there to block it,” Iverson said about his penetration drives that often ended up being rejected. “It really didn’t matter who was out there.”

Michael Olowokandi, who did not score but had six rebounds, led the Clippers with six blocks. Brian Skinner came off the bench and had four blocks and Taylor and Odom each had three.

“We did a good job following our defensive plan,” Olowokandi said. “We put a lot of emphasis in not letting Iverson loose. Our plan was to go out and double team him and we were very successful.”

Derek Anderson led the Clippers’ balance scoring attack with 21 points, making 15 of 17 free-throw attempts. Odom added 18 points and nine rebounds and Troy Hudson had 16 points, five rebounds and three assists.

With Ford deciding to give starting point guard Eric Murdock the night off to rest his nagging knee injury, Hudson played 41 minutes and had only two turnovers.

“He hustled his butt off all night, especially on defense,” Ford said. “He did a great job on challenging Iverson. He did what we practiced.”

Iverson led Philadelphia in scoring, but the 76ers were clearly undermanned, even against the Clippers, who played without Eric Piatkowski, out because of injured ribs.

The Clippers used an assortment of players to help Hudson defend Iverson, who entered the game shooting 31.7% from the field. Hudson opened on him but he was relieved often by Anderson and received plenty of help from big men Olowokandi, Taylor and Skinner.

Without Iverson scoring, Philadelphia struggled to get points early. The 76ers scored just 14 points in the first quarter on 21.7% shooting. The Clippers ended the period with a modest eight-point lead with Odom, Anderson and Hudson combining for 20 of the team’s 22 points.

The Clippers took advantage of Philadelphia’s lack of size inside in the second quarter by basically blocking every shot put up in the lane. After getting six blocks in the first quarter, the Clippers had five more in the second.

With Taylor on the bench with three fouls, the Clippers were still able to build a 35-27 lead after a three-point basket by Tyrone Nesby with 3:52 remaining in the quarter. But then the Clippers had their own problems scoring.

Thanks to a 10-0 run, triggered by the inside play of Billy Owens, the 76ers found themselves ahead, 41-39, in the final seconds of the half.

That set up a dramatic halfcourt buzzer beater by Odom.

Taking the inbounds pass, Odom, who turns 20 today, eluded a soft trap by Philadelphia and banked in a running 42-foot shot to give the Clippers a 42-41 halftime lead.

The Clippers dominated the third quarter, outscoring Philadelphia, 28-12, with Taylor scoring 10 and Hudson eight in the period.

After the 76ers took a 50-48 lead, the Clippers blitzed Philadelphia with a 22-3 run to close the quarter. By holding the 76ers to 22.2% shooting, the Clippers led, 70-53, heading into the fourth.

The Clippers made it close by turning the ball over 10 times in the fourth.

“It was utter chaos out there,” Ford said about the Clippers’ problems breaking Philadelphia’s late pressing defense. “We had the wrong guys taking the ball out of bounds, we had people in the wrong spots. . . . We told the guys to continue to work on the shot clock and take care of the ball.”