Clippers settle score with Nets

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- The New Jersey Nets, perhaps, took the arena scoreboard a little too literally.

Unable to fit every letter, the scoreboard read Clipper. And the Nets pinned their sights solely on one.

That would be Chris Kaman, whom they still had little retort for despite dispatching plenty of manpower as the Clippers grinded out a 91-82 victory over the Nets on Tuesday at the Izod Center before a crowd of 13,433.

Kaman had 18 points and 14 rebounds, nearly his season averages in a rejuvenating year, with the bench providing the spark when he was swamped and bothered by double and triple teams.

“That’s good to know,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said when told it was the Clippers’ first win here since Jan. 15, 1998, after eight losses.

“Scratch off another one.”

The Clippers (8-12) did that themselves and will look to keep another streak going tonight with a quick turnaround in Charlotte, where they have won all three of the previous meetings with the Bobcats.

Kaman’s attention-grabbing performance provided an opening for reserve guard Dan Dickau and forward Ruben Patterson to creep through.

Dickau scored a season-high 11 points, making four of six shots, and Patterson added nine points and five rebounds after not playing in Sunday’s loss to the Miami Heat because of a coach’s decision.

“Ruben came in and gave us some energy,” Dunleavy said. “Dan came in and made some big shots in the second half. They stretched their defense.

“They were coming hard at Chris every time, double teams and triple teams to him. There were some shots on the board for some other guys.”

There were other encouraging signs -- Al Thornton dunking a missed shot and Paul Davis emphatically blocking a Richard Jefferson layup.

“We haven’t been making shots and finally tonight we made some,” said Kaman, who scored 14 of his points in the first half on six-for-eight shooting. “We played well defensively.”

The Clippers did, but the Nets (9-13) went down in a myriad of their own clanked shots, missed layups and faulty turnovers.

“When the ball is on the rim and it is not going in, there is nothing you can do,” said Nets guard Jason Kidd, who notched his 93rd career triple-double with 11 points, 11 assists and 10 rebounds.

The Nets missed 15 straight shots in the fourth quarter, including nine layups. They made five of 25 shots in the quarter and shot 32.1% for the game.

Jefferson and Vince Carter finished a combined 11 for 38 from the field for the Nets, who have lost four straight games and eight of nine here.

And in a welcomed change, it was not the Clippers layups that were seemingly finding every way to escape the rim.

“It was about time to see someone else miss shots,” guard Brevin Knight said. “We’ve been on that end a lot of the time.”

Tim Thomas also scored 18 points for the Clippers. Corey Maggette took only six shots, making one, but made 11 of 12 free throws.

“We’ll just take it in stride and try to build on it and move on from there,” Maggette said.

Malik Allen, who averaged 4.9 points entering the game, scored all of his 14 points in the first half for the Nets. His buzzer beater tied the score, 46-46, at halftime.

The Nets had 16 first-half field goals with Kidd assisting on nine of them, including eight in the first quarter.

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com