Slighted Clippers Find Their Way

Talk about disrespect.

After six years of losing at Gund Arena, the Clippers finally flipped the script on the Cavaliers, defeating them, 100-94, before 11,231 Wednesday night. But before the game ended, the arena’s public-address announcer referred to them as the Los Angeles Lakers.

The Clippers may have been on their way to winning their second consecutive road game for the first time since 1997, but calling them the Lakers?

“The Lakers deserve everything they’ve gotten . . . they are the world champs,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “What we’re trying to do with our group of guys is gain respect. And you get that by going out and playing hard every night and for the most part, we’ve done that.”

True. The Clippers have given solid efforts for most of the season but executing when games are close has been a different story. However, that wasn’t a problem as they handed the Cavaliers their 11th loss in their past 12 games.

With Lamar Odom controlling the flow of the game with 23 points, eight rebounds and eight assists, the Clippers played with composure when it was most needed. After a jump shot by Cleveland’s Jimmy Jackson tied the score, 77-77, with nine minutes remaining, the Clippers outscored the Cavaliers, 23-17, down the stretch to improve to 2-4 on their seven-game trip.

And they did it mainly with defense and a strong contribution from rookies Quentin Richardson and Darius Miles.

While the Clippers’ shot 64.3% in the final quarter, they limited Cleveland to 36%, with Richardson and Miles playing key roles.

“It helped in the second half that our defense was right in front of our bench,” said Richardson, who had 19 points on eight-of-13 shooting off the bench. “[Gentry] was yelling and helping us.”

Because the Clippers made defensive stops, they got their running game going. Once that happens, the Clippers are a different team.

“We are always at our best when we can do that because that’s our strength,” said Richardson, a Chicago native and former De Paul star. “We all can run up and down the court and do things in transition.”

Richardson and Miles picked a perfect time to find their games because tonight the Clippers will finish their trip at Chicago against the Bulls.

Miles, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds for his seventh double-double of the season, loves playing when he knows fans are paying close attention to him.

“The crowd was on us tonight and we stepped up just like we did at Detroit [in Monday’s overtime win],” said Miles, who lived in Chicago before joining the Clippers. “That gets us all pumped up to play.”

For the fourth time on the trip, the Clippers started fast. But unlike in Miami, New Jersey and Detroit, where the Clippers gave up their lead late in the second half, they were caught late in the first quarter.

After rushing out to a 17-10 lead, the Clippers allowed Cleveland to go on an 11-0 run and outscore them, 28-10, to take a 38-27 advantage early in the second quarter.

The Clippers, however, closed to within 51-47 by halftime, thanks to youngsters Corey Maggette, Keyon Dooling, Richardson and Miles, who have not played together often since the All-Star break.

In the third quarter, the Clippers limited their mistakes and made a run to take a one-point lead into the fourth, which they also owned.

“The big thing is that we are playing better than we were two weeks or a month ago,” said Gentry, whose team improved to 18-38.

“That’s important for us . . . I thought we did a good job, in the second half, of coming up with stops so that we were running out on misses and not taking the ball out of the basket.”