Clipper Victory Jangles Spurs

At some point Monday, the Clippers stopped worrying about the officiating. They quit fretting about the hacks and slaps that went uncalled. And they shrugged off the absence of Coach Alvin Gentry, who spoke up for them and got ejected.

The Clippers set their jaws and simply played basketball. They played it better than the San Antonio Spurs, too, defeating them, 91-79, before a crowd of 16,575 at Staples Center. It was the Clippers’ first victory over the Spurs at Los Angeles since Dec. 4, 1997, ending a streak of eight consecutive losses.

Michael Olowokandi took rebound after rebound, swished hook shots and short jump shots and muscled up against San Antonio’s Tim Duncan on the low block. Olowokandi would score 17 points, take 18 rebounds and add four blocks.

Duncan had 32 points, 11 rebounds, two blocks and one technical foul, in the fourth quarter. San Antonio Coach Gregg Popovich also got a technical, less than two minutes after Duncan’s, as the Spurs appeared to come a bit unglued down the stretch.

“Duncan is a great player,” said Clipper forward Elton Brand, who had 16 points and eight rebounds. “He’s going to get his buckets. We didn’t want the other players to beat us. [Tony] Parker, Steve Kerr, Steve Smith.”

The Clippers also fashioned their victory on the perimeter, with Marko Jaric threading a 30-foot bounce pass to Melvin Ely for a dunk and a 76-61 lead early in the fourth quarter. Andre Miller handled the ball as if it were on a string, besting Parker. Miller had 12 points and eight assists and Parker had 12 points and five assists.

Just in case there was any lingering doubt late, the Clippers turned Quentin Richardson loose against San Antonio’s Danny Ferry. Richardson scored 10 consecutive points down the stretch.

The Clippers kept a double-digit lead for most of the second half and led, 90-73, after Richardson scored the last of his season-best 21 points (in 27 minutes) on a twisting move against Ferry with 3:12 to play.

“When a coach or a player gets kicked out, the team rallies around each other,” said assistant coach Dennis Johnson, who moved into Gentry’s seat after Gentry was ejected late in the first quarter. “I know San Antonio is a good team, but the guys did what they’re expected to do. We’re good enough to win games like this when everybody comes to play.”

When the teams played Friday at San Antonio, the Clippers stayed close until the Spurs went on a 28-4 run that began halfway through the second quarter and lasted until midway through the third. They coasted to a 97-84 victory.

That spurt pretty much summed up the Clippers’ 2-2 trip to New Orleans, Dallas, San Antonio and Houston. Efficient one moment, out of sync the next.

“I still think we’ve got to learn to be consistent,” Gentry said before the rematch Monday against the Spurs. “Our lack of consistency has hurt us more than anything this season. We were good in the New Orleans game. We were good in the Houston game. We struggled like crazy in between. There’s always a five- or six-minute situation that costs us.

“What we’ve got to do is learn to stop the runs, execute and come up with stops [on defense]. If a team like Dallas comes down like they did [last week], and Nick Van Exel makes two threes, we have to make sure we execute at the other end and get the ball in the basket. We can’t be seduced into shooting quickly.”

Gentry was around to witness only part of the Clippers’ resilient play Monday, drawing one technical with 3:22 left in the first quarter for wailing for the officiating crew to call fouls against the Spurs. He drew the second with 1:49 remaining.

“Calculated?” Gentry said, repeating a reporter’s question. “Heck no. That’s going to cost me $1,500” in a fine from the league office.

Trailing, 28-23, by the end of the first quarter, and with the Spurs’ 28-4 run of Friday fresh in their minds, the Clippers went on a 15-3 run early in the second period to take command before halftime. Olowokandi keyed the run by scoring seven consecutive points.

The Clippers outshot the Spurs, 52.3% to 40.9%, by game’s end.

“The technical fouls and ejection [of Gentry] really turned it around for them,” San Antonio’s David Robinson said. “They made some key shots and three-pointers and we didn’t.”

The Spurs did get within 77-67 with 7:45 to play after a 10-3 run. But the technicals on Duncan and Popovich blunted their momentum.