Clippers End It With a Win

The Clippers gave themselves a lovely parting gift in their season finale Wednesday against the Portland Trail Blazers, running off into the moonlight (and their summer vacations) with a 107-93 victory at Staples Center.

They also helped the Lakers move from sixth place in the Western Conference standings to fifth, setting up a first-round date with the fourth-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves. The sixth-seeded Trail Blazers face the third-seeded Dallas Mavericks.

“I’m glad we won, but I want to see that Dallas-Lakers series,” guard Eric Piatkowski said after the Clippers ended their 19th season in Los Angeles with a 27-55 record that included a three-game winning streak.

“[Dallas owner] Mark Cuban should send us bonuses. They don’t want to see the Lakers in the first round.”

Lamar Odom had 24 points on 10-for-13 shooting with 13 rebounds, five assists and three blocks for the Clippers. Andre Miller had 19 points and Elton Brand had 18 points and 11 rebounds.

The question is: will this group stay together? A group-hug at center court after the final buzzer could be the last time these Clippers are together on the floor.

Piatkowski, Michael Olowokandi and Sean Rooks are eligible to become unrestricted free agents and Odom, Miller, Brand and Corey Maggette are set to become restricted free agents on July 1.

And there is the matter of the head coaching position.

Dennis Johnson finished his 24-game run as interim coach with an 8-16 mark after replacing Alvin Gentry on March 3.

Gentry was 19-39 before he was fired with the team mired in last place in the Pacific Division standings.

“The last three games, yeah, I think [because of] the way he got us to play hard,” Piatkowski said when asked if Johnson had earned a chance to stay on as coach. “Most of the other teams had given up. We got stronger and it’s a credit to him.”

Johnson put the ball in management’s court when asked about his future after the game. He had dodged questions about his status during the season, but met them head on Wednesday.

“The players responded to me,” he said. “It’s up to the team whether I deserve to be here or not. The team has a lot of decisions to make, whether it takes a week or a month or the whole summer.”