It All Evens Out for the Clippers

Youthful, inconsistent, injured team hits road.

Road hits back.

That’s the expected scenario whenever the Clippers leave Southern California this season. Except that for the second time, the Clippers showed their depths instead of sinking to them while away from Staples Center.

In fact, the Clippers on Saturday displayed a poised, resilient style of play rarely seen at home, taking a 94-83 victory from the Houston Rockets before 13,144 at the Compaq Center and evening their four-game trip to Louisiana and Texas at 2-2.

The Clippers also finished with a 2-2 mark on a four-game trip last month to Philadelphia, New Jersey, Orlando and Miami. They are 5-7 on the road and 5-7 at Staples Center, where they play 11 of their next 15 games.

Saturday, the Clippers’ inexperience didn’t overwhelm them during crunch time. Their confidence swelled as the minutes ticked by against the Rockets, whose seven-game home winning streak ended.

Oh, the Clippers were not flawless, but there were few signs of the halting steps they took in squandering double-digit leads in the not-too-distant past.

The ball was in the right hands at the right moments Saturday, which meant point guard Andre Miller and power forward Elton Brand had their fingerprints all over the Clippers’ 10th victory in 24 games this season. Each scored 27 points, each retreating to the locker room at game’s end to have ice applied to injured body parts.

Miller had his sprained left ankle soaking in an ice bucket and Brand had an enormous ice pack strapped around his right thigh.

“Excellent,” Brand said of Miller. “He played great. He hit big shots. Played good defense. I thought he looked like he was back to normal. I asked him about it, but he said, ‘No way. It’s still killing me.’ ”

Miller’s bum ankle certainly looked as if it slowed him during Friday’s loss to the Spurs at San Antonio, when he missed 10 of 13 shots en route to seven points and six assists in 29 minutes. He looked rejuvenated Saturday against the Rockets, making 10 of 15 shots and adding six assists in 44 minutes.

Brand, who is listed at 6 feet 8, did his best work against Yao Ming (7-5), Kelvin Cato (6-11), Eddie Griffin (6-10) and Terence Morris (6-9). Not all at once, mind you, but at various moments, Brand battled all of them for inside position and for rebounds. He would make 12 of 21 shots and take 16 rebounds, including seven on the offensive end, and add four blocked shots.

Brand swatted one of Yao’s nine attempts, trigging a fastbreak that led to his short jump shot and a 66-55 lead midway through the third quarter. Yao would score 16 points and take nine rebounds in 36 minutes.

But with Miller and Brand guiding them with steady hands, the Clippers never trailed and led by as much as 40-24 early in the second quarter. They held a double-digit lead for most of the fourth quarter.

“Once again, Elton is Elton,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “Every game he gives you everything he has. I just think the guy is an All-Star.”

A first-time All-Star last season, Brand is tied with Kevin Garnett of the Minnesota Timberwolves with 20 games with 10 or more points and rebounds, tops in the NBA.

Like Miller, Brand struggled at times Friday against the Spurs. He had 16 points and 14 rebounds, a monster game for many power forwards, but also was frustrated by suffocating pressure from Tim Duncan, David Robinson and Kevin Willis -- San Antonio’s three-headed 7-foot monster.

Instead of looking forward to a day off today, the Clippers went at the Rockets (12-10) from the start. By taking an early lead, the Clippers kept the pressure on Houston, particularly on guard Steve Francis.

Badgered by Miller, Francis scored 14 points on five-for-18 shooting, well off his season average of 24.3 points. Cuttino Mobley led the Rockets with 19 points on eight-for-17 shooting.

“We came out and played well,” Miller said. “Everybody played well. We were basically doing what we wanted to do.”