Rooks Comes to Rescue for Clippers With Late Tip

Rookie point guard Keyon Dooling had the ball and the game in his hands. The Clippers were tied with Vancouver and only seconds remained in regulation when Dooling drove to the basket around Shareef Abdur-Rahim.

But by the time Dooling lofted his shot, the Grizzlies’ Mike Bibby moved inside and made him miss. That’s when veteran Sean Rooks stepped in for a rebound tip with 1.7 seconds to give the Clippers a dramatic 92-90 victory Saturday night before 12,001 at Staples Center.

“At first, all I was thinking about was that I missed the shot,” said Dooling, who scored all nine of his points in the fourth quarter. “I don’t know what happened, but luckily Sean was there to put it back in.”

For Rooks, who never has been regarded as a dominant rebounder, it was simply a matter of being in the right place at the right time.

“This was maybe my first game-winning basket in the pros,” said Rooks, who was picked up in an off-season trade from Dallas and is in his ninth NBA season. “Keyon made a great move going to the hole, and I knew that he would be able to get his shot off. The previous time when he got fouled going to the hole, I had a good angle too because they were so worried about stopping penetration.”

Rooks was able to beat Vancouver’s Othella Harrington to the rebound and give the Clippers their second consecutive victory after they almost blew a 16-point first-quarter lead.

The Clippers, who improved to 10-18, blocked 14 shots with Lamar Odom setting a career-high with nine to go along with 14 points and six rebounds. Point guard Jeff McInnis also had a solid game by tying a personal best with 10 assists and had only one turnover.

“This was a great test,” Coach Alvin Gentry said of the Clippers, who are 2-1 against Vancouver this season. “They came back and got the lead. We kept our composure, did a good job executing down the stretch and Sean made a great tip in.”

The Clippers got off to their strong start thanks to the scoring of power forward Brian Skinner.

Wearing socks pulled to his knees, Skinner was aggressive every time he touched the ball. He scored the Clippers’ first basket on a dunk and finished the first quarter with 11 points after scoring in double figures only three times before Saturday.

“Brian was probably the most aggressive he’s been all year offensively,” Gentry said of Skinner, who finished with 13 points and five rebounds.

With Skinner and even Michael Olowokandi (10 points and six rebounds in the first half) providing strong early inside play, the Clippers’ perimeter players had plenty of room to work.

The first quarter had all the ingredients for a blowout victory. Vancouver, which lost a close game at home to Sacramento on Friday night, started off like a tired team and the Clippers made them pay by making 13 of their first 18 shots and taking a 32-16 lead into the second quarter.

But in the second quarter, the Clippers tried to get too fancy, which gave Vancouver an opportunity to pull together and make a game of it. After a sizzling first quarter, the Clippers turned stone cold in the second as they made only 27.3% of their shots and the Grizzlies were able to close the score to 48-37 at halftime.

With point guard Mike Bibby breaking down Clipper defenders to score 10 of his 18 points in the third quarter, Vancouver dominated the start of the second half just as easily as the Clippers owned the first quarter.

The Grizzlies made 13 of 24 shots and did not have a turnover or a foul as they outscored the Clippers, 32-17, and took a 69-65 lead into the fourth.

Over the final 12 minutes, the Clippers were able to execute behind Odom and Dooling, who gave Vancouver fits with penetration drives. But in the end, it was Rooks who saved the day.