Clippers haven’t been torn apart

Chris Kaman was there when it happened.

“That was me,” he said with a sigh. “I took a stick, I hit him, his Achilles’ tore.”

That would have been easier to understand.

Elton Brand was making a move on Kaman during a summer game of one-on-one when Brand softly crumpled to the floor. No snap, no crackle, no cry.

Brand hobbled to the sidelines thinking he had sprained his ankle. His shoe was removed for further examination.

Only then did anyone realize what had happened to his tendon.

“The back of his foot was purple, black and blue,” Kaman said.

A few hours later, a text message from Brand to Kaman confirmed it.

“I tore it, bro.”

At that point, on Aug. 3, three months before it started, the Clippers’ season was officially finished, bro.

“Everybody in the organization was going crazy,” Kaman said. “I thought, ‘We’re in trouble.’ ”

Fast forward to tonight, when I’m going to do something as absurd as Kaman hitting Brand with a stick.

I’m going to watch the telecast of a Clippers road game in November.

The 4-0 Clippers against the 3-1 Detroit Pistons.

Then fast forward to Sunday, Staples Center stunningly hosting what might be the best NBA game here this month.

The epitome-of-teamwork Clippers against LeBron James’ Cleveland Cavaliers.

“What’s happening now is kind of wild, isn’t it?” said Kaman. “I don’t even want to think about it.”

Too late for that. The NBA is curious about it, the city is stunned by it, and Clipper Nation is shouting about it.

It’s only four games, but the Clippers are playing their most exciting basketball in two seasons.

Without their star. Without their leader. Without restraint.

“It’s like, we all just figured it out,” Kaman said.

They figured out that, without Elton Brand, they could all act like Elton Brand.

They figured out that a giant void could become a giant opportunity for a bunch of guys who have been quietly begging for one.

More minutes. More touches. More shots. More space. More smiles.

“I told the guys, with Elton not in the lineup, there’s shots that will go to other guys, the ball will be in more hands, we will run a little more,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “They all understood.”

Four games, four different starting lineups, four different leading scorers, everyone running and gunning and rebounding with a freedom they’ve seemingly never felt.

They’ve won with Sam Cassell scoring 35 points . . . and Sam Cassell not even leaving the bench in the fourth quarter.

They’ve won with Cuttino Mobley scoring 33 points one night . . . and playing only five minutes because of a groin injury on another night.

They rank second in the league in scoring, second in rebounding, sixth in opponents’ field-goal percentage and first in eyes opened.

“Four games isn’t anything, it’s a long season, but I’m telling you dude, this shows you should not give up on the Clippers,” Kaman said. “No matter how much gruff you take from people, don’t give up on us.”

It is a far cry from last season, when the Clippers gave up on themselves by losing five of their last eight games, blowing a playoff spot and self respect.

Most of the players spent the summer in the gym trying to remember who they were.

“Before Elton’s injury, I knew we had a bunch of other guys who were looking pretty good,” Dunleavy said. “Once the injury happened, those guys were ready.”

Corey Maggette has always wanted to be The Man. Now that he has that chance, he’s playing like it, padding next summer’s free-agent resume with 20 points and seven rebounds.

Mobley has always wanted more shots, and he’s proving worthy of them, shooting 62%.

Tim Thomas moped through last season while starting only 24 games; now that he’s off the bench, he’s shooting 50% from the field and 54% from the three-point line.

Brevin Knight has been a good play-making addition, and Ruben Patterson has added defense, both of them allowing the Clippers to play smaller and quicker.

Then there’s Kaman, free from contract worries and injury, finally playing like the impact center that Elgin Baylor boldly predicted.

Four games, four Kaman double-doubles, he leads the league in rebounding and remorse.

“Last year, to be honest, that contract thing was on my mind all during the summer and fall, I couldn’t think of anything else,” said Kaman, who signed a five-year, $52-million extension. “I’m a human being. I was worried about my future.”

Make no mistake. Kaman has become the present. His start is the difference here. He is the reason the Clippers have a chance to actually turn this four-game start into something special.

He spent all summer working out with guys like Brand, and all fall reveling in the freedom that Brand’s absence affords him.

“It’s different when we’re not throwing the ball to one person all the time,” he said. “Other teams aren’t used to that. We’re not used to that. It’s changed everything.”

No, no, nobody would ever dare say that the Clippers are a better team without Brand, who could return for the playoff push in February.

But it seems that, individually, they’ve been forced to stretch themselves into better players.

“This is nice, but I would like it a lot better if I could just pencil in the name ‘B-r-a-n-d’ every night,” Dunleavy said. “I’d give anything to have those five letters back.”

For now, he’ll settle for five letters that form b-l-a-s-t.

Bill Plaschke can be reached at bill.plaschke@latimes.com. To read previous columns by Plaschke, go to latimes.com/plaschke.

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Above average

Chris Kaman’s season averages from last season and his averages through four games this season:

*--* 2007-08 MIN FG% PTS REB BLK 37 50.0 16.8 16.5 2.0 2006-07 MIN FG% PTS REB BLK 29 45.1 10.1 7.8 1.5 *--*

Source: NBA.com