First a Victory, Then a Plea

In the end, the strangest, most intriguing sight Wednesday at Staples Center was not the final numbers on the scoreboard: Clippers 110, Milwaukee Bucks 104. No, it was Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling and forward Lamar Odom engaged in a pleasant, but earnest conversation moments after the final buzzer.

“It all begins with you,” Odom told Sterling before the two hugged and slapped each other on the back.

Sterling pulled away and nodded, knowing full well that Odom was speaking about the need to keep this team of potential free agents together long enough to transform it into a winner for next season and beyond.

“We’re playing basketball in L.A.,” Odom said. “Nobody wants to go nowhere.”

Odom is one of several players eligible to become free agents at season’s end, joining Elton Brand, Corey Maggette, Andre Miller and Michael Olowokandi. How significant is that?

Odom scored 13 points against the Bucks. Brand had 20 and nine rebounds, Maggette had 23 points and Miller added six points and 11 assists. Olowokandi, the only one of the group who can be an unrestricted free agent July 1, is sidelined for another month after undergoing arthroscopic knee surgery Feb. 3.

“I’m being serious now,” Odom said when asked about his talk with Sterling. “We’ve got to have him around. He’s got to know where our minds are at. It’s about summertime. We have a good team here. That’s why everybody expected so much from this team. Everybody can play. We have to keep playing hard and hope everything goes well, so he’ll keep things together because I don’t want to start over.

“With the team we’ve got, it’s important for Mr. Sterling to be here, so we can make some improvements in the team.... I like when he comes to the games and he’s cheering. I like to see him with a smile on his face -- win, lose or draw.

“Everybody’s playing hard. Nobody’s quit. Elton Brand has more bandages than a running back.... We’ve got a group of us who want to make this a team. Donald Sterling has to marry one of us to his team.”

After speaking with reporters, Odom made a beeline back to Sterling, who was talking to Coach Alvin Gentry nearby. Odom made another plea for Sterling to keep the team together.

Until the end, and Odom and Sterling’s postgame chat, the buzz around Staples centered on the trade deadline, which comes today at noon PST. There was plenty of talk about a possible Clipper deal with the Utah Jazz.

The details were more than a little fuzzy, but one version making the rounds had the Clippers sending Brand, their leading scorer and rebounder, to the Jazz for backup forward Matt Harpring and a player to be determined as a throw-in to make the salaries fall in line.

“I heard that one,” Brand said. “That’s pretty funny.”

There also was plenty of talk that the team would deal Miller, who has been less than great for the Clippers since they got him last summer from the Cleveland Cavaliers for fan favorite Darius Miles.

A team source shot down both rumors, leaving plenty of time to look forward to another in what figures to be a string of meaningless games.

Naturally, the Clippers played as if they were auditioning for new employers. They built a 60-53 lead by halftime, and never trailed in the second half in winning for only the third time in their last 12 games.