Clipper Rally Is Spellbinding

It was a game you had to see to believe.

For a little more than three quarters Wednesday night, the Clippers were the Clippers of old, sleepwalking to a 21-point second-half deficit against the Washington Wizards.

Then, suddenly, the Clippers of the future showed up. With Lamar Odom and Keyon Dooling setting the table, the Clippers outscored Washington, 37-16, in the fourth quarter to win going away, 93-88, ending a three-game losing streak in the process.

With most of the MCI Center crowd of 11,602 already on its way home, the Clippers pulled off a comeback that won’t soon be forgotten. After playing like a tired, unhappy team for most of the night, the Clippers got their act together over the final 12 minutes, making 13 of 20 field-goal attempts and limiting Washington to 28.6% shooting.

“I don’t think I’ve ever [coached] a game where we were struggling so much early and then all of the sudden turn into a different team,” said Coach Alvin Gentry, whose team began its current six-game trip by blowing a nine-point lead in the final 1:22 of regulation and then losing in overtime at Toronto.

“I know how [the Wizards] feel. We had the [same feeling] after the Toronto game, so I can relate to constantly coming up short.”

The bottom line is that in the fourth quarter the Clippers played unselfish basketball and finally made the shots they were supposed to make. Odom, who did not start because he broke a team rule after the loss at New York on Monday, was the catalyst down the stretch as he led a lineup that included Darius Miles, Eric Piatkowski, Sean Rooks and Dooling.

“We had ourselves down again, in another one of those positions where we did everything to lose the game except for the last few minutes,” said Odom, who had 20 points, 10 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots in 42 minutes.

“We got to the point where we started trying to get each other involved in the game. . . . It kind of spread from one man to another. We started sharing the ball and found a way to win.”

With Michael Jordan, Washington’s chief of basketball operations, making a rare MCI appearance, the Wizards dominated a lifeless Clipper team and held a 53-32 lead early in the third quarter.

“We’re coming out thinking too much instead of just playing,” Clipper guard Jeff McInnis said. “If we’re going to be a good team, we have to start out on the same page.”

The Clippers opened the game looking like a team feeling sorry for itself, and the players’ body language showed it. The Clippers turned the ball over on four of their first seven possessions, and once it was in the hands of the Wizards, no one hustled to get back on defense.

The result was a hot start for the Wizards, who made their first six shots against little resistance. Looking like a team conducting pregame layup drills, Washington made only two baskets from beyond seven feet the entire first quarter in taking a 24-11 lead.

By the time the Wizards stretched their advantage to 21 points, the Clippers appeared ready to roll over. But Corey Maggette, who started in place of Odom and had 13 of his 18 points in the third quarter, wouldn’t let them.

With Washington ahead, 72-56, at the start of the fourth, Miles got the comeback rolling with a dunk. The Clippers then began to force Washington into taking perimeter shots, and once the Wizards began to miss the rally was on, with Dooling playing a key role.

“He did a good job defensively and he gave us that burst of energy that we needed,” Gentry said of Dooling, who dominated Washington point guard Rod Strickland in the fourth. “He pushed the ball up the court and got us into [our offensive sets] quickly. He did a good job reading situations, delivering the ball to [the right players].”

Dooling, who scored all of his 12 points in the fourth quarter, inspired the Clippers with a couple of dunks and teamed with Piatkowski and Odom to make six of eight three-pointers in the final quarter.