Resiliency Is Paying Dividends

This could have become another wasted season for the Clippers, who were recently headed in the wrong direction.

After a 14-5 start, the Clippers dropped nine of 12 and often appeared overmatched while playing without injured starting small forward Corey Maggette, but they’ve turned it around.

The Clippers (24-16) have won seven of nine, including four in a row. They have matched the best start in franchise history through 40 games.

They’re second in the Pacific Division, trailing the Phoenix Suns by 2 1/2 games, and Maggette might return after the All-Star break.

It seems the Clippers’ situation has improved, and they said determination helped them break through.

“Their resiliency, and the fact that they work so hard, has really made a big difference,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “How many times have you heard me question our effort?

“For the most part, the effort has been there every game. That effort goes a long way to winning games.”

The veteran leadership of point guard Sam Cassell and swingman Cuttino Mobley also has helped, General Manager Elgin Baylor said.

“You’ve got guys like Sam and Cuttino, who have been through injuries and different things in their career, and they know how to handle it, which is good for the whole team,” Baylor said. “You also have to give credit to Mike, because although we’ve had some key injuries that have changed substitution patterns, he’s said all along that we have the talent to win.”

The Clippers overcame a 19-point deficit -- their biggest of the season -- late in the third quarter of Monday’s 96-93 victory against the Golden State Warriors at Oakland. That victory illustrated the team’s resolve under Dunleavy, Baylor said.

“He’s done a great job of getting them mentally and emotionally ready to play,” Baylor said. “He hasn’t let them focus on whom we don’t have. These are the guys we have here, and he’s convinced them we can win, and we have won.”

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Backup center Zeljko Rebraca, who experienced another irregular heartbeat this week, will practice with the team on its six-game, 11-day Eastern trip that begins Sunday, Dunleavy said. Physicians have recommended Rebraca, sidelined 25 games because of an irregular heartbeat, not play for three weeks while they attempt to diagnose the cause of his latest heart episode, but he has been cleared to participate in full-contact practice.

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TONIGHT

vs. Denver Nuggets, 7:30, Channel 5

Site -- Staples Center.

Radio -- 1150.

Records -- Clippers 24-16, Nuggets 25-20

Record vs. Nuggets -- 1-1.

Update -- The Nuggets defeated the Clippers, 105-89, in the teams’ only meeting at Staples Center last season.