Maggette Makes Most of Pointers

Before catching a forearm from Karl Malone, resulting in chipped teeth, a swollen nose and the rest of the night off, Corey Maggette had enjoyed his best game of the exhibition season Thursday against the Lakers.

He scored 21 points in 24 minutes through 2 1/2 quarters, making five of eight shots, 10 of 12 free throws and helping the Clippers to a 107-101 victory.

“Corey was terrific,” raved Coach Mike Dunleavy, who is counting on the high-flying small forward to play a critical role this season. “He did a great job of taking what was there, attacking the rim. We tried to give him opportunities to do that and he did it. It was a great game for him, absolutely.”

But not a great exhibition season. Before Thursday, Maggette had made only 27.5% of his shots, two of 13 from beyond the three-point arc, and had committed 19 turnovers, nearly twice as many as any of his teammates.

“We actually spent a lot of time with him, did a lot of film work [last week],” Dunleavy said. “Took all his possessions, looked at them, talked it over, saw some stuff in his shot, [and made] little changes. It was a great response.”

Said Maggette, who averaged a career-best 16.8 points last season, landed a six-year, $42-million contract over the summer and regularly stays late after practice to work on his shot: “It was just one of them days. I’ve been trying to get my timing and it’s all coming together. I can do this on a regular basis.”

He returned to practice Saturday after having his front teeth capped, thankful that he hadn’t been hurt worse after his collision with Malone.

“I guess when you try to get a rebound next to him, you’ve got to watch out,” he said. “Sometimes you just get caught in the crossfire.”

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Elton Brand, the Clippers’ blue-collar power forward, smiled when told that Dunleavy had described him as “Dennis Rodman with offense.”

“That’s a compliment because that’s the way I try to look at myself,” he said. “I see guys like [Rodman] and Ben Wallace, who really play defense and get rebounds. It takes a lot out of you and they haven’t really been scorers.”

Rodman averaged 13.1 rebounds during his career but only 7.3 points, never averaging more than 10 after scoring a career-high 11.6 during his second season. Wallace, the Detroit Pistons’ defense-first center, averaged a career-high and league-leading 15.4 rebounds last season but only 6.9 points.

Brand’s four-season averages: 19.2 points and 10.7 rebounds.

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Injured swingman Glen Rice and rookie Josh Moore stayed behind Sunday when the Clippers flew to Japan. Though he is expected to open the season on the injured list, Olden Polynice made the trip for games against the Seattle SuperSonics.