Pizzazz Delivery

Elgin Baylor just wanted to pick up a pizza.

But the longtime general manager of the Clippers recently learned that these days, simple everyday activities aren’t what they used to be. At a restaurant he had quietly visited many times before, Baylor suddenly found himself fielding question after question about his resurgent basketball club.

“Even the guy cooking the pizza, he just wanted to talk about the team,” Baylor said. “In fact, he spent so much time talking about the team that I got a half-cooked pizza. I got home and the pizza wasn’t done, but that’s OK. There’s an excitement about this team wherever I go now. It’s different.”

The NBA’s longest-running punch line, the Clippers are redefining themselves, following the lead of a confident coach and a take-charge point guard to a franchise-best start. Coach Mike Dunleavy and point guard Sam Cassell say they’re in the early stages of leading the Clippers, first in the Western Conference’s Pacific Division, to something big, and if talk around the league is any indication, they might be right.

Attendance at Staples Center, TV ratings and sponsorship revenue have increased this season. Hollywood has noticed too. The Clippers have never played before more “A”-list celebrities, pushing the higher-profile Lakers for equal billing. And with forwards Elton Brand and Corey Maggette, guards Shaun Livingston and Cuttino Mobley and center Chris Kaman under multiyear contracts, the Clippers seem to have a foundation for long-term success.

Even during coach Larry Brown’s brief run in the early 1990s, when the Clippers earned playoff berths in consecutive seasons, there was a sense it wouldn’t last because of owner Donald T. Sterling’s reluctance to keep pace with the game’s economics. But Sterling has undergone a transformation too, NBA executives said, making a commitment to winning with his checkbook.

The Clippers (15-8) are doing things they’ve never done before. They lead the NBA in defensive field-goal percentage, are 10-2 at home and have five away victories -- half of last season’s total. They have overcome injuries and illness, having played without Livingston for 21 games and Maggette for 10.

“Most people have no clue how good a team they are, but they’re one of the best,” said Gregg Popovich, coach and general manager of the San Antonio Spurs. “They have a great front line, and with the addition of Sam Cassell and Cuttino Mobley, that’s a lot of talent and leadership. The pieces are coming together for them.”

The Clippers defeated the Houston Rockets, who had won five straight, in their last game to end a three-game losing streak, and face the New Jersey Nets tonight to start a three-game trip.

They profess that, unlike in previous years, they believe they should win any game they play.

“Like I’ve been telling my guys since training camp, I don’t want to hear anything about history,” said Cassell, who arrived in an August trade from the Minnesota Timberwolves.

“Whatever happened here in the past doesn’t mean anything right now. I know some people probably thought it would be the same old Clippers, that we’d probably keep losing, but there’s a lot of character on this team. However it used to be, we’re doing things different now.”

No one more so than Sterling, a target of fans and media throughout his 24 years as owner because of, well, everything.

The Clippers have had five winning seasons and six playoff appearances in 34 seasons. Under Sterling, they have had one season above .500 in 24 years -- none in more than a decade.

Sterling, who rarely grants interviews and declined to comment for this story, has made major financial commitments that began in the summer of 2003 with the signing of Dunleavy to a four-year, $10-million deal.

Dunleavy guided the Lakers to the NBA Finals in 1991, twice took the Portland Trail Blazers to the Western Conference finals, and was the NBA coach of the year in 1999. But perhaps Dunleavy’s biggest accomplishment has been helping Baylor persuade Sterling to invest more in the team.

“They’ve definitely stepped up,” said Kiki Vandeweghe, general manager of the Denver Nuggets and a former All-American at UCLA. “They’ve gotten good guys there, and they’ve committed to them long-term, which is definitely part of the formula of being a successful team.”

In the summer of 2003, Dunleavy and Baylor encouraged Sterling to retain Brand and Maggette, so Sterling matched Miami’s $82-million offer sheet to Brand and Utah’s $45-million offer to Maggette. Sterling also made strong runs the last three off-seasons at free-agent guards Gilbert Arenas, Kobe Bryant and Ray Allen.

Undeterred at coming up short each time, Sterling let Baylor lure Mobley in July with a five-year, $42-million deal -- the richest contract in team history for a free agent from outside the organization. The Clippers finished last in the NBA in three-point shooting last season, so Dunleavy wanted Mobley, third in the league last season in three-point percentage, to help address that.

Dunleavy, along with Baylor, also pushed for the trade that brought Cassell from Minnesota.

Sterling even made a rare appearance at an “away” game against the Lakers on Nov. 18, sitting courtside to watch his team’s 97-91 victory at Staples Center. The Clippers have beaten the Lakers three times in a row for the first time since 1975, when they were the Buffalo Braves.

“Everybody keeps asking me, ‘Am I surprised?’ Surprised? There’s nothing to be surprised about,” Dunleavy said. “I said all along that if we were healthy we’d be a good team. These are the guys I wanted here. I know exactly what they’re about.”

Which is why Dunleavy wasn’t worried about the baggage Cassell brought from Minnesota.

Cassell, 36, had a rocky two-year relationship with the Timberwolves and played in a career-low 59 games last season. His outspoken desire for a new contract prompted Minnesota to send the 12-year veteran, and a lottery-protected first-round pick in next year’s draft, to the Clippers for guards Marko Jaric and Lionel Chalmers.

Dunleavy says he couldn’t be happier with Cassell, who averages 17.1 points and a team-high 7.3 assists, and has brought a swagger to the Clippers.

“That’s what Sam does,” said Detroit Piston Coach Flip Saunders, who coached Cassell in Minnesota. “When they made the trade for Sam and signed Mobley, I told everyone that with the other pieces on that team, they were going to be a legit contender in the West.

“In both Cassell and Mobley, you have two players who want to take big shots in the fourth quarter. Not only do they want to take them, but they thrive in that type of situation and don’t get rattled too much.

“And another big thing is that they’re doing the same thing for Brand that Sam and [Latrell] Sprewell did for [Kevin] Garnett. They’ve made Brand more efficient.”

Brand, who dropped 20 pounds and improved his entire game in the off-season, is having a career season, leading the Clippers with averages of 25 points, 10.5 rebounds and 2.6 blocks. He credits Cassell and Mobley for much of his improvement.

“We’ve been so young around here, there was just a lot we didn’t know.” Brand said. “It was really hard to hold guys accountable, because we didn’t have veteran guys to show us the right way to do things. We do now.”

Cassell and Mobley, who averages 15.7 points, have made an impression on opponents too.

“Those guys have made a huge difference,” said Phoenix Sun point guard Steve Nash, last season’s NBA most valuable player.

“It’s not just their ability, it’s the confidence they bring. They already had a good frontcourt and a good coach, and now they have a good backcourt and a lot of confidence. You can see the improvement.”

The Clippers were 37-45 last season, third in the Pacific Division, three games ahead of the fourth-place Lakers.

Anticipating another step forward, the Clippers increased their marketing staff before the season, and they have needed the help. Sponsorship revenue has increased 33% since the end of the 2004-05 season, the club said, and it has set a goal of a 50% bump.

“Let’s just put it this way, the doors are opening quicker and remaining open longer,” said Christian Howard, vice president of marketing and broadcasting.

Attendance through the first 12 home games is up 8% from last season, the team said, Channel 5’s ratings of Clipper games have improved 80% and 400 new season-ticket holders have signed on since the first game.

Hollywood notables Penny Marshall, Billy Crystal, James L. Brooks and Frankie Muniz are longtime Clipper supporters, and more celebrities have joined them at courtside. It’s not surprising to see Dustin Hoffman, Chris Rock or Adam Sandler at Clipper games now.

“They’re a fun team to watch,” said TV analyst Dan Majerle, who had a 14-year NBA career. “Cassell and Mobley know how to win and bring a certain swagger, and then you throw in a guy like Elton Brand, who’s having an MVP-type season, and role guys like Kaman....

“They’ve been second fiddle to the Lakers for so long, and right now they’ve got the best team in L.A.”

*

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX)

Money Clips

The Clippers begin a three-game trip tonight. Their games tonight and Wednesday will be on Channel 5: Where the Clippers rank among NBA teams:

*--* WHEN WHERE TIME Tonight at New Jersey 4:30 Wednesday at Indiana 4 p.m. Friday at Charlotte 4:30 p.m.

*--*

*--* CATEGORY AVG. RANK FG% 46.1% 6th Opp. FG% 41.5% 1st FT% 80.5% 1st Rebounds 44.5 1st Blocks 6.3 3rd Points 97.47 12th

*--*