Clippers Come Bouncing Back

And now the trip gets interesting.

The Clippers learned from their mistakes in an opening loss on their longest stretch away from Staples Center this season, and got what they wanted Wednesday night in a 106-94 victory over the Orlando Magic at the TD Waterhouse Centre.

Power forward Elton Brand continued his run of consistently impressive performances, scoring a game-high 35 points with a team-high nine rebounds, and point guard Sam Cassell was again at his best with the outcome still in doubt down the stretch, scoring 10 of his 26 points in the final quarter to help the Clippers even their record at 1-1 on a six-game, 11-day Eastern trip.

Frustrated because of their late mistakes in Monday’s loss to the Miami Heat, the Clippers said they could still have an outstanding trip because of their performance against Orlando.

“Definitely, we needed this one,” said Brand, who also had a career-high-tying four steals. “Granted, we played well against Miami, but we lost, so we had to have this game today.

“You could start off 0-2 and win the rest, maybe. But it feels good to be .500 on the road, and we can make a positive road trip out of this.”

The Clippers did many things right until the final three minutes Monday in Miami’s 118-114 victory at American Airlines Arena. Blown coverages on the perimeter were among the Clippers’ biggest problems against the Heat, so Coach Mike Dunleavy went back to basics.

The Clippers responded well to the tutorial, limiting the Magic to 38.5% shooting from the field and 18.2% from behind the three-point line.

The Clippers shot 53.2% and 57.1%, respectively, contributing to an efficient 12-point win in which they led after the 7:14 mark of the first quarter and had a 10-point (59-49) halftime lead.

“I thought our guys, defensively, did a pretty good job,” Dunleavy said. “When you hold an opponent under 40% shooting, obviously, it gives you a great chance to win.”

The Clippers remained 2 1/2 games behind the first-place Phoenix Suns in the Pacific Division. They evened their road mark at 10-10, matching last season’s victory total.

“We played well enough the other night against Miami to win, but we came up on the short end of the stick,” Cassell said.

“Elton and myself made a point early on of coming out and being aggressive on offense to lead our team to victory, which is what we did. We took on the scoring load, but it was a team effort.”

The Magic trailed by as many as 17 points in the second half of its third consecutive loss. The Clippers finished 2-0 this season against Orlando.

“I was disappointed in our defense in the first half,” Magic Coach Brian Hill said.

“We played much harder in the second half, and did a much better job defensively.”

It showed.

The Magic pulled within five points, 78-73, with 1:12 remaining in the third quarter, but Brand made consecutive jumpers to give the Clippers an 82-73 lead beginning the fourth. Then it was Cassell’s turn.

He scored eight points in a 14-6 run as the Clippers pulled away for good, 96-79, with 6:15 remaining in the game.

“I thought we were going to be able to make a run toward the end of the game, but Sam and Elton shot the ball well,” said Orlando point guard Steve Francis, who scored 21 points to lead six players in double figures.

“And for us, it looked like we didn’t have a lot of energy out there. We didn’t play with urgency when we were down after we got as close as five.”