Odom & Old Guys Do It for Clippers

The Clippers’ Lamar Odom simply wanted it more.

With his team struggling for anything positive after two ugly defeats, Odom showed the New York Knicks and all his family and friends back home in Queens that he does have what it takes to carry a team.

Odom bounced back from early foul trouble and a cut over his right eye Wednesday night to score seven of his 16 points, including a key jump shot over Larry Johnson, and grab five rebounds in the fourth quarter to lead the Clippers to a 78-74 victory over New York before 12,516 at Staples Center.

“We needed this victory for ourselves,” said Odom, who finished with a team-high nine rebounds and also had three assists and three blocked shots.

“At halftime, it was gut-check time and Coach [Alvin Gentry] told us we were not being physical enough and we were letting them beat us up.”

Odom made sure the Clippers didn’t back down in the second half and he receivedplenty of help from the team’s old-timers in Sean Rooks, Eric Piatkowski and Derek Strong.

Gentry said after the Clippers held a team meeting after Monday’s loss to Dallas that everyone knew his role. Against the Knicks, it was clear that the roles for his younger players--including rookies Darius Miles, Quentin Richardson and Keyon Dooling and second-year swingman Corey Maggette--were limited. Miles, who started the first five games of the season, did not leave the bench and Richardson, Dooling and Maggette combined for only 17 minutes.

“[New York] is such a cagey-smart team, I thought that it might be wise to go with the veteran guys,” Gentry said. “This doesn’t have anything to do with anything but this game. It just worked out that way. . . .

“The only reason Darius didn’t play was because I didn’t think it was fair to stick him in there against a player like Larry Johnson.”

The Clipper veterans definitely did not disappoint.

“We finally got the older guys out there at the end and it made a big difference,” said Tyrone Nesby, who made a clutch basket and timely assist to Jeff McInnis down the stretch.

“Everybody played hard and played together. No one tried to make [highlight] plays. We played under control.”

Rooks had his best game of the season filling in for ineffective starting center Michael Olowokandi. Rooks played 28 minutes and had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists.

Piatkowski finished with 12 points and Strong added five for the Clippers, who improved to 3-6.

But the story was Odom.

“We hung together and our leader stepped up tonight,” McInnis said. “Lamar Odom showed he is the leader. He made some huge plays for us.”

New York, which lost its first road game of the season on Tuesday at Seattle, was led by Johnson’s 20 points and nine rebounds. Allan Houston made only seven of 19 shots and finished with 17 points and Latrell Sprewell added 12 for the Knicks, who also lost to the Clippers at Staples Center last season.

Sprewell hurt the Clippers at the end of the first and second quarters with last-second baskets. He ended the first quarter with a highlight shot scored while sitting at the free throw line and ended the second with a three-point play, thanks to poor defensive play and bad foul management by the Clippers.

After trailing by seven points at halftime, the Clippers started the second half with more energy and quickly cut New York’s lead. After getting into early foul trouble--with two personals in the first 3:23 of the game--Odom led a Clipper comeback and after a McInnis jump shot, New York found the score tied at 46 midway into the third quarter.

The Clippers continued to play the Knicks tough and headed into the final quarter trailing, 58-56. In the fourth quarter, Odom and his veteran teammates took over.

“It was a big game coming off the two losses,” Piatkowski said. “Guys were a little bit down. . . .

“This game was so important for Lamar Odom. . . . He was pumped before the game and wanted to win because he’s from New York.”