Richardson Shines a Bit More Brightly

After Paul Pierce was voted to the Eastern Conference All-Star team Tuesday, the only player from a losing team so honored, the Boston Celtics defended the selection by calling Pierce one of the NBA’s top 10 players.

In Wednesday night’s 95-86 Clipper victory over the Celtics, however, Pierce wasn’t even the best shooting guard on the FleetCenter court.

Quentin Richardson badly outplayed the former Inglewood High standout, dropping a game-high 36 points and a club-record eight three-point baskets on the struggling Celtics, who have lost five in a row and nine of 11.

The Clippers have won three consecutive road games for the first time since March 2002 and, even with injured forward Corey Maggette sitting out, they ended a seven-game losing streak against the Celtics. The victory was their first at Boston since April 4, 1997, ending a six-game slide.

“I was playing against an All-Star and I played well,” said Richardson, who outscored Pierce by 14 points, making 11 of 19 shots -- eight of 11 from beyond the three-point arc -- while Pierce made eight of 20. “If you can’t get ready to play that type of game, I don’t know what you’re going to be ready for.”

Far removed from their glory years, the Celtics have lost four in a row under interim Coach John Carroll, hired Jan. 27 after Jim O’Brien resigned over philosophical differences with Danny Ainge, the director of basketball operations.

Not even Super Bowl highlights could save them Wednesday.

During a timeout with 8 minutes 27 seconds to play, after a three-point basket by Richardson gave the Clippers a 78-77 lead, clips of the New England Patriots’ 32-29 victory Sunday over the Carolina Panthers were shown on the scoreboard.

A three-point play by Pierce gave the Celtics an 80-78 lead, but the Clippers answered with a 13-2 run that carried them to their fourth victory in five games, their third in four as they reached the midpoint of an eight-game trip.

“The fourth quarter was wonderful for us,” said Elton Brand, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and six assists. “We just took over and said, ‘Let’s win this.’ We need that type of confidence if we want to compete for a playoff spot.”

Richardson and Brand scored the Clippers’ last 22 points.

“We knew we were missing Corey, so we knew guys were going to have to step up,” said Richardson, who scored 14 points in the fourth quarter. “I didn’t necessarily go into the game thinking it would be me, but E.B. and Marko [Jaric] and those guys did a great job of finding me when I was open.”

Jaric shot poorly but had a career-high nine rebounds and nine assists. Rookie Chris Kaman had 11 points and six rebounds in 28 minutes.

*

With the Feb. 19 trading deadline only two weeks away, “stuff’s floating around,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said. The Clippers, however, are not expected to be involved in a major deal because they do not want to use up salary-cap space before the summer free-agent signing period.

If the Clippers were willing to use cap space, Dunleavy said, “there might be some stuff that potentially would be interesting.”