Clippers’ Hustle Beats Warriors’ Muscle

The loose basketball seemed to hang in the air forever, spinning above the sideline in the fourth quarter Saturday night. Clipper forward Darius Miles suddenly barged past Antawn Jamison of the Golden State Warriors to save it.

Jeff McInnis, Miles’ teammate, shouldered his way past Jamison at midcourt, collected the ball and dribbled toward the basket. In a flash, McInnis flipped a pass to Miles, who by now had collected himself along the sideline and sprinted ahead of a bewildered Jamison.

Miles then delivered a thunderous dunk that enlivened what had been a tedious game, propelling the Clippers at long last toward their third consecutive victory.

There was still much of the fourth quarter to be played, but soon this game would become a 109-95 Clipper victory before a crowd of 18,964, a franchise-record 15th sellout this season and the sixth in a row at Staples Center.

The victory kept the ninth-place Clippers within striking distance in the Western Conference playoff race, moving them within 21/2 games of the eighth-place Seattle SuperSonics. Plus, it was the Clippers’ 30th victory in their 60th game, one short of their total for all of last season.

To bolster their roster for the season’s final 22 games, the Clippers are expected to announce they have signed former NBA guard Doug Overton to a 10-day contract. Overton has been playing in Europe.

Saturday, the Clippers sputtered, coughed and wheezed their way to a 93-84 lead against the worst team in the Pacific Division. But Miles’ steal and dunk sparked them to a 12-6 run and a commanding 105-90 lead with 2:01 remaining.

Miles would score 18 points, but none were as significant as his dunk midway through the fourth quarter. McInnis had 20 points and 13 assists and Elton Brand had 20 points and 12 rebounds.

“I had a layup, but I gave to Darius because he worked so hard to get the ball,” McInnis said. “I gave to Darius and he finished it. It turned the game around for us. When we make athletic plays and get out and run, that’s when we’re at our best.”

For most of the game, the Clippers’ only one at Staples during a stretch of nine of 10 on the road, there was very little athleticism on display. The Warriors gave the Clippers fits at every turn.

“They hang around and they hang around,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said of Golden State (16-41). “They have trouble finishing, though.... For us, every win is a good win.”

When someone dared suggest to Gentry before the game that Portland, Utah and Seattle had secured the final three playoff spots in the West with their recent strong play, he was incredulous.

“Not over,” he said. “It’s not over. There are too many games left.”

If only the Clippers showed that sort of defiance to start Saturday’s game. A few swift shots to the last-place Warriors’ soft underbelly and this game could have been a laugher.

Instead, the Clippers snoozed their way to a 54-48 lead by halftime, failing to take advantage of injuries to Golden State’s starting backcourt.

Jason Richardson didn’t make the trip from Oakland after suffering a sprained left ankle Friday against the Sacramento Kings. Larry Hughes sprained his left ankle with 1:27 remaining in the first quarter Saturday, falling to the court on his own. He missed the rest of the first half, but returned with his ankle heavily taped in the third quarter.

The Clippers played sluggishly at both ends to start, but were especially flat-footed around the basket. The Warriors took 23 first-half rebounds, to only 19 for the Clippers. What’s more, Golden State scored 32 of its 48 first-half points in the paint. The Clippers had only 18 of their 54 from close range.

And then there was the Clippers’ inability to slow Bob Sura, a Warrior substitute who played extended minutes because of the injuries to Richardson and Hughes. Sura torched the Clippers for 13 points and four assists in 16 minutes.

Sura scored again and again, mainly because nobody seemed to be guarding him.

It was the sort of defensive assignment Gentry would have given to Corey Maggette, but Maggette is likely lost for the rest of the regular season because of two dislocated bones in his right hand.

Gentry also could have turned to Lamar Odom, but Odom is out for about another month because of a sprained right wrist and ankle.