Huge Void, Huge Victory

Grim-faced but hoping he could play Wednesday, Elton Brand walked onto the court hours before the Clippers faced the Miami Heat. Bands of heavy, white athletic tape covered his injured right ring finger.

Brand tried a hook shot, then another. His brow furrowed. Both fell short of the mark. He took a jump shot, then tried to dunk with his right hand. Neither went in the basket. Soon enough, he returned to the locker room.

He would not play in the Clippers’ 81-71 victory over the Heat before a crowd of 15,423 at American Airlines Arena. His status for tonight’s game against the Orlando Magic was termed questionable by the team.

“I can’t palm the ball, I can’t hold the ball,” Brand said, referring to the stretched tendon he suffered Dec. 7. Of testing his finger during Wednesday’s pregame warmup, he added, “If we were five games above [the .500 mark], maybe I wouldn’t have even tried it.”

But the Clippers are 27-28 and in ninth place in the Western Conference standings, 11/2 games behind the Seattle SuperSonics, who sit in the eighth and final playoff spot.

Suddenly, there is a sense of urgency for the Clippers.

You could see it in the play of Harold Jamison, who replaced Brand at power forward. Jamison posted Brand-like numbers, scoring 14 points and taking 10 rebounds in 27 minutes--all career highs. His spin move around Miami center Alonzo Mourning and dunk over him late in the third quarter propelled the Clippers to a season sweep of the Heat.

“The guys will tell you that’s my patented move,” said Jamison, a former member of the Heat who signed with the Clippers as a free agent Sept. 28 after spending last season in Europe.

Assistant coach Dennis Johnson noticed the cluster of reporters surrounding Jamison in the locker room and bellowed, “The mayor of South Beach.” Jamison, who still has a residence here, said, “It was kind of personal tonight. I was down here and they let me go.”

Coach Alvin Gentry gave Jamison his second start in place of Brand this month. Jamison also replaced Brand for a Feb. 3 loss against the Boston Celtics. A sore elbow sidelined Brand for that game, his first miss of the season.

“I can’t even remember the last time Jamison played in a game,” Gentry said. “The one thing that he does is keep himself ready to play all the time. I think [Miami power forward] Brian Grant, night in and night out, outplays everybody else. From an effort standpoint, I thought Harold matched him. I think he did a great job.”

But there was more to the Clippers’ victory than Jamison’s points, rebounds and energy. Contributions came from expected sources such as Quentin Richardson, who had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and unexpected ones such as Sean Rooks (11 points on five-of-eight shooting).

The Clippers started sluggishly but went on a 20-5 run to close the second quarter and took a 43-36 lead by halftime. Their first lead didn’t come until Rooks made a jump shot off a pick-and-roll play with point guard Jeff McInnis for a 33-31 advantage with 3:15 left in the half.

Once ahead, the Clippers never trailed and never faltered. Despite playing without Brand, their leading scorer and rebounder with averages of 18.3 points and 11.3 rebounds, and Lamar Odom (sprained right wrist and sprained right ankle), the Clippers looked poised during key moments.

Miami cut the Clipper lead to 69-67 after Mourning scored two of his 17 points. But Clipper center Michael Olowokandi countered with a short jump shot, Richardson rebounded Darius Miles’ miss and scored and Rooks made a jumper. The Heat never got within eight the rest of the way.

“The one word we talked about in the scouting report about this team, whether Elton Brand or Lamar Odom are out there, was ‘relentless,’” Miami Coach Pat Riley said of the Clippers. “I thought their effort far surpassed ours. They just did a great job on the offensive boards. We got out to a pretty good start, but when Quentin Richardson came into the game, he dominated and got them ahead at halftime.

“It’s very, very disappointing. I give Alvin and the Clippers a lot of credit. They basically came in here and kicked our tails.”