Clippers Are Good at End

If there was any question about the Clippers’ heart, they answered it with Friday night’s gutty effort against the Milwaukee Bucks.

After having team leaders Lamar Odom and Jeff McInnis ejected with 4:11 remaining in the fourth quarter and seeing the Bucks open a five-point lead with less than 90 seconds left, the Clippers rallied with consecutive three-point baskets from Keyon Dooling and Eric Piatkowski to send the game into overtime.

Then in the extra period, the Clippers found themselves down by four with less than three minutes to play. They rallied again and finally put the Bucks away with some clutch free-throw shooting and another timely basket from Piatkowski to win, 113-110, before 17,329 at Staples Center.

A key point in overtime came when Sean Rooks, unbeknownst to the officials, stepped in for Darius Miles, who was fouled going for a defensive rebound, and made two free throws to put the Clippers up 111-110.

“This was the best win we had this year,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “We beat a real quality team that had everything to play for and they had been playing great. They had just won at San Antonio and Sacramento.”

The Clippers, who improved to 28-48, have won their last five home games and improved to 11-2 over their last 13 at Staples Center. Milwaukee, the Central Division leader, lost to the Clippers for the first time in five games and dropped to 48-28.

Miles had a spectacular game with 26 points and nine rebounds.

“I just felt the urge that I had to lead the team to a win,” Miles said.

Piatkowski, who missed eight of his first nine shots, finished with 13 points, and Dooling stepped up with 12 and made a crucial steal to help send the game into overtime.

Before Odom was ejected, his building frustration was evident. He wasn’t shooting well (seven of 17) and he didn’t believe that calls were going in his favor.

Odom thought he was fouled going to the basket, but a jump-ball call was made instead and Odom lost his composure.

On the Bucks’ next possession, Odom fouled Sam Cassell and then was ejected when he bumped the Milwaukee point guard to the floor. McInnis was tossed when officials thought he was complaining about Odom’s ejection. The next thing the Clippers knew, their one-point lead turned into a three-point deficit and they had to finish the game without their two leading scorers.

Odom and McInnis watched from the locker room but they liked what they saw.

“It looked like they got a little hyped up about what happened,” said Odom, who finished with 18 points, seven assists and six rebounds. “Sometimes it works out like that.”

Without Odom and McInnis, Corey Maggette became more of a factor. He finished with 10 points and seven rebounds and played solid defense on Milwaukee’s Ray Allen.