Clippers End a Rigorous Trip More Upbeat Than Beaten Up

If there’s one word that best describes the Clippers’ first extended trip of the season, it would be resilient.

Playing five games in seven nights, losing two key players to injuries and another for personal reasons, gave the Clippers a chance to test their character and they came through with high marks despite finishing the trip with more losses than wins.

Showing the type of toughness normally not associated with the franchise, the Clippers ended the trip on a positive note, a hard-fought 98-89 victory over the Washington Wizards Saturday night before 11,753 at MCI Center.

“People don’t understand how big this win was for us. We didn’t want to spend five long hours on a plane coming home with a loss,” said rookie Lamar Odom, who again had a big fourth quarter, scoring seven of his 21 points, and added five rebounds and three steals.

“We usually watch the tape of our last game flying home and you don’t want to look at how bad you played in a loss.”

The victory was the Clippers’ second of the trip and it came without the services of Maurice Taylor and Derek Anderson, who are injured, and Tyrone Nesby, who remained in Los Angeles after the birth of his first child Thursday.

“It doesn’t look pretty at times, but the intensity that they are playing with is fantastic,” Clipper Coach Chris Ford said of his team, which made 10 of 19 three-point attempts.

“This was a big win because we’ve worked so hard on this trip. It’s just great to be rewarded with a win.”

Eric Piatkowski led the Clippers (3-7) with 25 points and was four for six from three-point range. Troy Hudson added a career-high 22, including four three-pointers, and Brian Skinner had another big game starting in place of Taylor with 13 points, 13 rebounds and four blocked shots.

The Clippers led, 56-41, after one of their best halves this season. Hudson, who tied a career high with 20 points in a tough loss at Toronto Friday, made four of seven three-point shots and Piatkowski, playing in his second game after missing seven in a row because of bruised ribs, made three of four from long distance and had 17 points.

The Clippers extended their advantage to 68-52 midway through the third quarter but Washington, which had not lost to the Clippers since March 8, 1996, cut the deficit to 74-68 heading into the final period.

The Wizards (2-8) closed within three points a couple of times, but Odom made sure the Clippers went home with a win with a timely open-court dunk and a three-point basket down the stretch.

“It was forced upon him [to take control],” Ford said. “We’re down three players. When we have no [post presence], he came in and made the big plays.”

Odom, who grew up in Queens, N.Y., was glad to step up with his family watching him play as a Clipper for the first time. Some family members have watched him play in Los Angeles and some traveled to Toronto for Friday’s game, but this was the first time most of them were together.

“I always want to win the game, but when I look up and see my family there I know that I have to be involved in some way,” Odom said. “In Toronto, I didn’t play too well and we lost. Tonight was special.”

After laboring with their outside shooting since the start of the season, the Clippers ignited against the Wizards, making eight of 14 three-point shots in the first half.

The Wizards simply did not have an answer for Piatkowski or Hudson.

“The way they were shooting tonight, there wasn’t a lot we could do,” said Washington forward Aaron Williams, who had 15 points and 11 rebounds off the bench. “It wasn’t like we were playing bad defense. They were hot.”

In two games since returning to the lineup, Piatkowski is eight for 14 from behind the three-point arc.

“My shot feels good. The last couple of weeks the thing that I couldn’t do was have contact,” he said. “I was shooting a hundred shots a day. The coaches were saying when I come back I better be hitting my shot.”

To make things even better for the Clippers, Hudson also has begun to find his range. Over the last two games, he’s averaged 21 points and has made six of 10 three-point shots.