Miles Has More Magic Touches

Darius Miles accepted an outlet pass from Clipper teammate Lamar Odom in full stride, racing down the court at what seemed like warp speed early in the fourth quarter Monday. Miles rocketed around a helpless Jud Buechler and unloaded a thunderous right-handed dunk.

Staples Center suddenly crackled with energy, the Clippers surged and the Orlando Magic wilted.

It wasn’t easy upstaging Orlando’s Tracy McGrady on this night, but Miles and the Clippers finally accomplished it during an electrifying sequence in the fourth quarter, pulling away for a 100-92 victory before a sellout crowd of 18,964.

As pivotal moments go, Miles’ dunk was a doozy.

“That’s when we pulled away and the fans got behind us,” said Elton Brand, who was held to a season-low six points in 26 minutes. “The crowd was going crazy.”

Miles’ slam gave the Clippers an 82-76 lead 1:30 into the fourth quarter. It also capped a 7-0 run and made the fourth sellout of the season at Staples momentarily forget that McGrady was on his way to dropping a season-high 47 points on the Clippers.

And it also propelled the Clippers to their sixth victory in eight games, moving them over the .500 mark at 11-10. The Clippers had been at .500 four times already this season and failed to get over the break-even mark.

That’s no big deal for many teams, but it’s the first time the Clippers have been above .500 since they were 6-5 on Nov. 21, 1996.

There has been a great deal of bad basketball between then and now.

McGrady threatened to give the Clippers another night to forget, but Miles wouldn’t let it happen. In addition to his spectacular dunk, two of his eight points, he also swatted two shots by McGrady and one by Darrell Armstrong in a quick sequence when things got tight in the final minute.

“They made two big runs and it was their bench that made the runs,” Orlando Coach Doc Rivers said. “I thought Miles was great tonight.”

The Clippers simply marveled at McGrady.

There’s little question he is as complete a player as there is these days in the NBA. He also is one of a select few who leaves opponents with a furrowed brow and a icy stare after dropping them with a slick move to the basket or stopping suddenly to unleash a jump shot.

McGrady had Lamar Odom grasping at nothing but air early and often, angering him to the point that he spiked the ball after Sean Rooks fouled McGrady on yet another sweet drive to the hoop.

The technical foul was Odom’s sixth in 13 games this season, which is approaching Rasheed Wallace territory. Odom managed 19 points, 10 assists and four rebounds before fouling out with 5:04 left.

“Before the game I was talking to some of you [reporters] and saying how I thought Kobe Bryant was the best player in the NBA,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “One of you suckers must have run down there and told Tracy what I said.”

Then adopting a more serious tone, Gentry added, “McGrady is a great player, but we felt he could score 50 points tonight and we could still win.”

Jeff McInnis put it this way: “Tracy McGrady is going to get his points. We can’t stop Tracy McGrady from scoring. Nobody in this league can stop Tracy McGrady from scoring.”

McGrady went for 26 in the first half, torching Odom at every opportunity and making 10 of 14 shots. Remarkably, McGrady had 15 in the second quarter and the Magic failed to hold a 13-point lead.

The Clippers stood up well enough against McGrady’s first-half scoring binge and rallied from 13 points down to tie the Magic, 51-51, by halftime. The Clipper bench helped wipe out the deficit, with Rooks and 5-foot-5 backup point guard Earl Boykins leading the charge.

Rooks, who landed in Gentry’s doghouse because of a miscommunication over his absence from Saturday’s practice, didn’t play in Sunday’s victory against the Charlotte Hornets.

Rooks then went out and made all three jump shots he took during 10 strong minutes in the first half.

Boykins, as is his custom, gave the Clippers an instant spark when he entered the game. Hacked by Armstrong with 0.3 left in the half, Boykins made two free throws to pull the Clippers even at last, 51-51. Boykins had six points and two assists in eight minutes in the second quarter.