Balanced Clippers Rise Up to Defeat Hapless Hawks

The Clippers are no longer at the bottom of the NBA’s food chain.

Not after spotting Atlanta an 18-point lead and then using a balanced attack to keep the Hawks winless with a 115-106 victory Friday night at Staples Center.

Lamar Odom had a monster game with 25 points, seven rebounds, seven assists and four blocked shots to lead the Clippers to their second win in six games before an announced crowd of 10,398.

But it definitely was not a one-man show for the Clippers, who made 58.9% of their field goals, including nine of 16 from behind the three-point line. Point guard Jeff McInnis had a career-high 28 points on 11-of-17 shooting; Tyrone Nesby had 17 points, including four three-point baskets; and 6-foot-4 rookie Keyon Dooling finished with 12 points, including a highlight right-hand dunk over the Hawks’ 7-2 Dikembe Mutombo in the fourth quarter.

“That’s how it is going to be for us, having someone different step up every game,” Odom said. “The young guys we have bring so much energy to the team. We’re just trying to get the most out of everybody.”

Coach Alvin Gentry went with his third different starting lineup in six games when he inserted Brian Skinner back at power forward and returned Odom to small forward. Gentry started Nesby for the third consecutive game at shooting guard and sat rookie Darius Miles for the first time this season.

“It’s a tough situation to ask Lamar to guard a post-up [power forward] because a guy like [Atlanta’s] Alan Henderson is used to banging with bigger guys,” Gentry said. “That is a little bit tougher than guarding an out on the floor four-man. . . . We’ll continue to change our lineup depending on who we are playing and what we are trying to get done.”

Unfortunately for Gentry, his new lineup started the game without any intensity and Atlanta jumped all over the Clippers early. With shooting guard Jim Jackson making his first three shots, the Hawks took a 14-4 lead before the Clippers knew what hit them.

To get back into the game, the Clippers turned to an unlikely source for offense. Center Michael Olowokandi, who had made only six of his last 28 field-goal attempts, basically carried the Clippers by making six consecutive baskets against Mutombo, who was playing in his second game after missing the start of the season because of malaria.

“Because we were able to throw the ball into Mike and he got off to such a good start, that opened up the floor for everyone else just by swinging the basketball,” Gentry said.

After struggling to get his shots to drop the previous three games, Olowokandi helped the Clippers take a 27-26 lead after one quarter because he made his moves with confidence. By the time he returned to the game in the second quarter, Atlanta (0-7) had changed defensive strategy and began to double-team the third-year center when he got the ball on the low post and the Clippers’ offense struggled.

With reserves DerMarr Johnson and Chris Crawford combining for 18 second-quarter points, Atlanta opened up a 58-40 lead with less than four minutes remaining in the first half. That’s when the Clippers finally began to play some defense.

Behind McInnis, Nesby and Derek Strong, the Clippers took advantage of three Hawk turnovers and rallied to cut their deficit to 58-50 at halftime. The Clippers scored their final basket on a nice play drawn up by Gentry in which Sean Rooks threw a length-of-the floor pass to Miles, who tipped the ball to McInnis for an open jump shot at the buzzer.

The Clippers continued their 21-0 run by scoring the first 11 points of the third quarter to take a 61-58 lead. The rest of the quarter, the Clippers kept the pressure on, thanks to three consecutive three-pointers by Nesby and a couple of midrange jumpers from McInnis.

“The end of the first half and the start of the second was a killer,” Atlanta first-year Coach Lon Kruger said. “It was a big confidence boost for them.”

In the fourth quarter, Odom and Dooling took over for the Clippers. Dooling scored 10 points and Odom scored eight, including a key three-point basket down the stretch.

“I had to step up because I hadn’t been playing well closing games,” Odom said. “I just wanted to focus and close this one out.”

Something the Clippers have only done 26 times over the last three seasons.