Olowokandi May Hold Key Against SuperSonics

Getting the ball inside to center Michael Olowokandi will be important for the Clippers tonight when they face the Seattle SuperSonics for the second time in a week.

The first time the teams met, Olowokandi got off to a strong start against Seattle veteran center Patrick Ewing. Olowokandi was so effective, he forced Seattle Coach Paul Westphal into using double-teams when the ball was thrown into the post.

“I don’t know if they will double-team [Olowokandi] from the start of the game or not, but we have to still throw the ball inside,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “If they aren’t double-teaming [Olowokandi] we have to make sure he gets easy baskets. If they are, we have to make sure that we are rotating the basketball and we’re going to have to make some jump shots.”

When Seattle won by three points last Saturday in Los Angeles, the Clippers hurt themselves with 30 turnovers. Despite that and their sub-60% free-throw shooting, the Clippers had a chance to win.

“We learned that Gary Payton can get his points [25 points in the first game] and we still had an opportunity to beat them,” Gentry said. “If we can hold them to 86 points, we will have an opportunity to win the game.”

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With the Clippers among the league’s top teams in rebounding, Gentry wants his players to aim higher when it comes to league rankings.

“You can use them to your advantage or disadvantage,” Gentry said of NBA rankings. “I’m concerned about our field-goal-percentage defense because that tells if you are giving up a lot of easy baskets. . . . Free-throw differential is important because it tells me if we are driving the ball to the basket and getting the ball inside.”

TONIGHT

at Seattle, 7

Channel 9

* Site--KeyArena.

* Radio--KXTA (1150).

* Records--Clippers 4-8, Seattle 5-8.

* Record vs. SuperSonics--0-1.

* Update--Seattle point guard Gary Payton and Coach Paul Westphal have patched things up after a run-in the two had during the second half of their game against Dallas last week. Westphal, however, is still on the hot seat with the SuperSonics struggling to reach .500. Seattle has won 27 of the last 29 meetings between the teams, including an 86-83 victory over the Clippers on Saturday at Staples Center. The Clippers’ Lamar Odom and Minnesota’s Kevin Garnett are the only two players in the league in the top 40 in scoring, rebounding, assists and blocked shots.