Maggette Is Making the Most of His Starts

An hour before the Clippers defeated Golden State on Friday night, a sweaty Corey Maggette sat on the team’s bench and looked ahead.

Maggette didn’t want to talk about how he started the season on the bench, playing most of his minutes late in games. Nor did he want to think about January, when he didn’t play well and spent five games on the injured list.

For Maggette, he only wanted to deal with the present and the Clippers’ future.

“We’ve done better than anyone has expected,” said Maggette, who started his fourth game in a row for Lamar Odom, who has to sit out one more game to complete his five-game suspension for violating league drug policy. “You can see everyone is making strides. This season was a learning experience for us.

“We’re very capable of winning 30 games this season and I don’t think anyone will accept anything less. We have a chance to double the win total from last season for the Clippers.”

Maggette has definitely been making the most out of his latest role. He scored 20 points and had 10 rebounds Friday and is averaging 16 points and 9.5 rebounds in his four starts in place of Odom.

“It’s good that I’m getting an opportunity to show what I can do,” Maggette said. “Hopefully, the coaches are [taking notice].”

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The Clippers had only 10 players in uniform against Golden State because rookie Quentin Richardson remained home with a viral infection.