Clippers Do the Little Thing Well

Earl Boykins darted between Mark Jackson and Shandon Anderson with a slick crossover dribble, making the trapping New York Knick guards look like two oversized freeway cones in the fourth quarter Sunday afternoon.

Boykins, the Clippers’ 5-foot-5 backup point guard, dribbled away from further pressure and spotted an open Quentin Richardson on the right wing. Boykins slipped Richardson the ball and Richardson swished a three-point basket for a 12-point Clipper lead with 1:03 remaining.

Game over.

This time, the Clippers would not falter down the stretch, taking a 99-86 victory from New York before 17,334 at Staples Center.

Unlike Friday’s loss to the Toronto Raptors, the Clippers grew stronger in the closing minutes. They were not about to fold for the second consecutive game--not when reserves such as Boykins and Richardson played so well in critical situations.

No question, the hapless Knicks contributed mightily to getting the Clippers back to the .500 mark with a 5-5 record, including 5-2 without suspended forward Lamar Odom. But the Clippers refused to buckle after letting a 15-point second-quarter lead slip away without much of a fight by midway through the third.

“Any win at home is a great win,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “Say whatever you want to about them, but they’re still the New York Knicks. You know they’re going to play hard. They’re going to compete. They’re going to play great defense.”

Sunday, however, the Knicks weren’t able to keep close enough track of Boykins and Richardson, whose standout play kept starters Jeff McInnis and Corey Maggette on the bench during crunch time.

Boykins had 11 points and five assists, including the pass to Richardson for the key three-pointer, in 19 minutes. Richardson had 20 points, making nine of 10 shots, in 30 minutes.

“I knew it was going to be a big shot,” Boykins said of following the flight of Richardson’s three-pointer, which gave the Clippers a 96-84 lead and sent the Knicks to their sixth road loss to start the season.

“Usually, when we get a lead, there’s been a little slip and the other team surges,” Richardson said. “That didn’t happen today. I had a lot of open shots today and [Boykins] deserves all the credit for getting me those shots.”

The Knicks, thin as a slice of New York-style pizza as it is, had no answer for the Clipper substitutes. In fact, they didn’t have much to counter the Clipper starters. Power forward Elton Brand scored 20 points and McInnis and shooting guard Eric Piatkowski added 14 apiece.

Latrell Sprewell had 22 points and Allan Houston 19 for New York, but they failed to ignite the Knicks (4-7).

New York trailed, 46-31, after Piatkowski stole an errant Knick pass and dunked late in the half. The Clippers appeared poised to turn the game into a runaway, but the Knicks went on a 16-5 run to take a 52-51 lead early in the third quarter.

Things were tight until Boykins and Richardson led a Clipper surge to start the fourth. Boykins’ dribbling skills enabled him to shed Jackson and backup Howard Eisley repeatedly. Richardson took advantage of New York’s attempts to double-team Boykins, making open jumpers. Boykins had seven points in the fourth quarter and Richardson had 11.

“Earl dribbles under people’s legs,” Brand joked.

For the first time this season, Gentry left McInnis on the bench to close a game. Gentry said he never gave it a second thought as the minutes and seconds ticked past Sunday.

“Earl’s difficult to trap,” Gentry said. “We left him in the game and let him beat the trap. We spread the floor.”

Asked specifically about keeping his reserves in the game in the final minutes, Gentry said, “They were going so well that I thought it was important to let them finish it out. I thought, ‘I gotta let them go.’ It was a situation where everything was flowing.”