Cassell Sees Comeback as a Sign of Character

These definitely aren’t your father’s Clippers.

If you ask Sam Cassell, they aren’t even last year’s Clippers.

Especially after erasing a 19-point third-quarter deficit and winning, 96-93, Monday night at Golden State.

“I think last year’s team would have given up on a game down 19 points with three minutes left in the third quarter,” said Cassell, a 12-year veteran in his first season with the Clippers.

“But the psyche of this team is to keep fighting. Coming back like that was big for this ballclub because this is still a young team.”

The largest comeback in team history was when the Clippers overcame a 24-point deficit in Chicago on Nov. 13, 2004. The team has come back from deficits of 21 or more five times.

Monday’s is significant, Coach Mike Dunleavy says, because the team has gone 8-11 since its 14-5 start and is trying to keep itself in position to make the Western Conference playoffs.

“The timing of it was tremendous for us because we’re in a situation where until we get 100% healthy, we’re trying to sustain our positioning for the playoffs and it’s not easy,” Dunleavy said.

“You may look back on that win somewhere during the season and say it was the difference between making the playoffs, not making the playoffs, being a seeded team -- whatever. It will be significant in some regard.”

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Second-year guard Shaun Livingston, who is averaging 6.1 points and 4.7 assists, has been experiencing back spasms and had precautionary X-rays taken Tuesday, a team spokesman said.

Livingston practiced Tuesday and is not expected to miss any time because of the injury. He had a season-best 16 points Jan. 18 against Phoenix but had only two against the Mavericks on Jan. 22 and scored four Monday against the Warriors.

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Dunleavy reacted to Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance by saying it would not have happened against him.

“I’d be sitting on the bench with my six fouls,” he joked.

Asked whether it could happen against a team he coaches, Dunleavy said: “Never say never about anything. I can’t control that.”

He said Bryant’s performance changed his view on whether Wilt Chamberlain’s 100-point record can be broken.

“I thought Wilt’s 100 points was untouchable,” Dunleavy said. “Now, obviously, it’s probably not. If anybody could do it, I’d think [Bryant] would be the guy that could do it.”

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Looking ahead: New Jersey Net leading scorer Vince Carter injured his back Monday when he crashed to the floor in the first quarter of a 89-78 loss to Utah.

He played 28 minutes but made only two of 14 field-goal attempts for five points -- his lowest total since joining the Nets in December 2004 -- and sat out the final 5:43.

His availability for tonight will be a game-time decision, he said after the game Monday in Utah. Carter has scored 35 and 31 points in his last two appearances against the Clippers, both Nets’ victories.

Cassell said the key to stopping the Nets would be controlling the tempo.

“They’ve got guys who play above the rim,” he said. “We just have to eliminate that aspect of the game and make them play half-court basketball and see what happens.”

Carter injured his back Nov. 21 against Golden State and sat out the next game, a 114-105 loss to Sacramento.

TONIGHT

vs. New Jersey, 7:30, FSN West 2

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Clippers 22-16, Nets 22-17.

Record vs. Nets -- 0-1.

Update -- The Atlantic Division-leading Nets beat the Clippers, 99-85, on Dec. 20 but have been vulnerable on the road in January. They are 2-5 away from home in 2006.