This Time, Clippers Hold Off Nuggets

At the end Saturday night, the Clippers had the look of a weary and wounded marathon runner searching for an elusive finish line that just must be around the next corner.

The Denver Nuggets were nipping at their heels, huffing and puffing and threatening to take away a victory from the energy-depleted Clippers, when Michael Olowokandi leaped twice to snatch the game back in the closing moments.

Olowokandi blocked Nene Hilario’s driving layup attempt, then made a hook shot on the other end to preserve the Clippers’ hard-earned 92-89 victory before a relieved crowd of 15,503 at Staples Center.

Olowokandi scored 18 points in 43 minutes before fouling out with 6.4 seconds remaining, one of four starters with 10 or more points. Marko Jaric led the Clippers with 22 points in 43 minutes.

The Clippers were again without three-fifths of their starting lineup, with power forward Elton Brand (strained calf), small forward Lamar Odom (sprained ankle) and Eric Piatkowski (abdominal strain) sitting out. Plus, top reserves Quentin Richardson (sprained ankle) and Corey Maggette (knee surgery) also couldn’t play.

The Clippers have been making do without Odom and Maggette for some time now, but they were hurting again without Brand, Piatkowski and Richardson. And still the Clippers were in a position to pull off an unlikely victory, their 12th in 28 games before their five-day holiday break.

“They’re a real hard team to play against,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said of the Nuggets, who lost their eighth consecutive game. “This is the team that held Dallas to 80 points the other night [during an 80-75 loss], so we knew it was going to be a tough game to play.”

Trailing 69-62, after Juwan Howard scored the last of his 13 points in the third quarter on a jump shot, the Clippers rallied to a 73-69 lead going into the fourth. Tremaine Fowlkes fueled the Clippers’ 11-0 run in the final 3:41 of the quarter by scoring eight of his career-best 16 points.

The Clippers’ run continued into the final quarter, with Jaric driving for a layup and Keyon Dooling adding two free throws for a 77-69 lead. The Nuggets went without a point until Howard’s layup with 8:57 remaining in the game ended a 15-0 Clipper run.

Howard added a hook shot, then scored on a driving layup. But he was about all the Nuggets had going for them. Howard finished with 30 points on 11-for-18 shooting in 37 minutes.

Despite all the trouble Howard caused the Clippers, particularly in scoring 22 points in the second half, they managed to hold the lead, something they failed to do in squandering a 16-point lead in the final 9 1/2 minutes of a 72-70 loss Nov. 22 at Denver.

“I thought [Olowokandi] did a good job on Juwan Howard when we put him on him late,” Gentry said. “We’re playing with a lot of guys hurt and banged up right now. We’re not making excuses, but we’re a little depleted right now. To me, this was a great win for the guys. I didn’t see anything negative about it.”

Both teams played Friday, the Clippers losing to the Phoenix Suns at Staples and the Nuggets falling to the Orlando Magic at Denver. So neither had the advantage of having a day to prepare for Saturday’s game.

Given that this was each team’s second game in 24 hours, the play was crisp enough at times early on. The Nuggets built a 50-40 lead with 3:51 left in the second quarter and appeared set to end a seven-game losing streak, but the Clippers roared back with a 12-2 run to close out the half. The Clippers’ nine-for-15 shooting (60%) in the second quarter kept them in the game.

“We needed a win before the holiday break and we got it,” Fowlkes said. “We knew they were going to come out and play hard, especially defensively. It feels really good to get the win.”