Clippers Tired but Smiling as Win Streak Reaches Four

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch did a double take when guard Terry Dehere asked to come out with five minutes to play in the fourth quarter of Tuesday night’s 87-80 victory over the Toronto Raptors.

Dehere, who usually doesn’t ask to come out unless he’s hurt, was tired after checking Raptor guard Damon Stoudamire, who had 25 points, nine assists and six rebounds in 46 minutes.

“That’s the first time I can ever remember Terry pointing to himself and saying that he wanted to come out,” Fitch said. “He was burnt out. He didn’t waste any energy. I’ve never ever had Terry smile when I took him out of a ballgame.

“We needed somebody to chase Stoudamire. If you let him rest while he’s on the floor, he’ll kill you.”

Dehere, who had six points and eight assists, played superb defense against Stoudamire, limiting him to two points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers extended their winning streak to four games before 15,249 at the SkyDome. Stoudamire missed four of five shots in the final quarter.

“It was really tough [defending Stoudamire], because the guy’s really small and so quick, so you have to use a lot of energy playing a guy who’s going to shoot the ball 20 times,” Dehere said.

“I had a lot of help because the big guys helped on his clear-outs and gave me time to recover. I just tried to keep a hand up at all times and make it real tough for him.”

The Clippers have their longest winning streak since last January, their longest road winning streak since March of 1992 and have won the first three games of a five-game trip.

Fitch, however, dismissed the winning streak.

“It’s four now, but that’s not a big number,” Fitch said. “It’s great, don’t get me wrong, but I still don’t want to talk about it. The only thing that counts is the next one.”

The Clippers, who overcame a 14-point third-quarter deficit with a 24-7 spurt at the end of the third quarter and the start of the fourth, played good defense against the Raptors, limiting them to only 11 points in the fourth quarter.

“We couldn’t sustain what we started,” Stoudamire said. “They didn’t hit the big shots, they just found a little bit more than we did down the stretch.”

Raptor forward Carlos Rogers said Toronto, which has lost four in a row, gave the game away by scoring only 30 points in the second half.

“We didn’t let it slip away, we gave it away,” Rogers said. “All we had to do in the second half was do what we did in the first half. We just did some stupid things. Until we learn to play a full 48 minutes, we’re going to lose games like this.”

Toronto, which was coming off a 44-point loss at Detroit on Saturday, shot only 20% in the fourth quarter, missing 12 of 15 shots. The Raptors missed 10 of their last 11 shots in the third quarter and nine of their last 10 in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our defense really picked up in the fourth quarter, but it was fresh,” Fitch said.

Clipper forward Loy Vaught had 21 points and 14 rebounds as the Clippers beat the Raptors for the first time in three games.

“We feel really confident right now,” Vaught said. “We’ve won on the road and we’ve beaten good teams. We feel like we’re one of the hottest teams in the league right now. Things are starting to come together for us now.”