Clippers Are Just Half Bad

The first time the Lakers played the Clippers this season, they had so much fun laughing during their blowout win, the team’s bench looked like an audience from Def Comedy Jam.

There were no jokes Tuesday night. Well, at least for a half.

The Clippers gave a much better effort but it wasn’t good enough against the NBA’s best team.

Shaquille O’Neal’s 38 points and 15 rebounds led the Lakers to their 11th consecutive victory, a 122-98 win before a sellout Staples Center crowd of 20,042, the largest ever to watch an NBA game in Southern California.

The Lakers showed some rust early from a five-day layoff but pulled away with a dominating second half as Kobe Bryant, who finished with 29 points, and Glen Rice, who had 19, added to O’Neal’s offense to defeat the Clippers for the 11th consecutive time.

“[The first half] was a little sluggish. It reminded me of an inner-city pick-up game,” said O’Neal, who also had three blocked shots.

“But in the second half, we tried to play better defense and had better shot selection.”

After watching his team score only three second-quarter points and 19 in the first half when the Clippers played the Lakers last month, Coach Chris Ford wanted his team to push the ball as much as possible against the bigger and older Lakers.

The tactic worked in the first half as point guard Troy Hudson led the Clipper break and his teammates played with the type of aggression sorely missed in the first matchup.

Rookie Lamar Odom had a big first half with 16 points and nine rebounds, and Tyrone Nesby added 14 and five to help the Clippers take a 61-59 lead.

“We got a little conscious about penetration, but it happened a little late,” Laker Coach Phil Jackson said.

“The Clippers played well, they have a real aggressive nature in their game.”

Another key for the Clippers’ strong first half was the play of reserves Keith Closs and Eric Piatkowski.

With starting center Michael Olowokandi limited to three minutes because of three quick fouls, Closs stepped up with six points, four blocked shots and three rebounds in the first half. Piatkowski also added a spark with 11 points.

“We were active on both ends of the court,” said Hudson, who scored only eight points but had 10 assists and seven rebounds. “On the offensive end, we were driving, penetrating and guys were hitting their shots. And we were playing much better defense.”

The Clippers’ lead, however, did not last long once the second half began.

As if they were only toying with the Clippers over the first two quarters, the Lakers picked up their play in the third.

Bryant, who missed nine of his first 13 shots, and Rice, who missed seven of his first 10, combined for 22 points in the quarter and O’Neal scored 11 and grabbed seven rebounds to help the Lakers outscore the Clippers, 37-18.

Despite a 96-79 lead to start the final period, Jackson kept his starters in for much of the fourth before seldom-used players such as Devean George and Travis Knight entered the game.

“It was a third-quarter lapse for us and you can’t have those or they’ll make you lose like we did tonight,” said Odom, who had 22 points and 12 rebounds.

“They came out in the second half and everybody started doing whatever they wanted. . . . We didn’t get any stops in the second half. By not stopping them, it took us out of our offense.”

Despite the Clippers’ improved early showing, Ford was not pleased with the loss.

“Unfortunately, you have to play 48 minutes,” Ford said.

“It’s a loss. . . . and it’s not like horseshoes.”

The Clippers have now lost three games in a row after winning four of five.

TART TIMES: Michael Olowokandi’s NBA career hasn’t quite gone as he had planned. Page 4

Head to Head

This season

Lakers lead, 2-0

*

Since Clippers moved to L.A.

Lakers lead, 60-16

*

Winning Streak

Lakers have won 11 in a row

*

Tonight

Clippers vs. Lakers

Staples Center

7:30

Channel 9, Fox Sports Net