Miller Gets Point Across

Above all, it was cathartic for the Clippers. Their 126-118 overtime victory over the New Jersey Nets was many things at many times Thursday at Staples Center. But, in the final analysis, it was simply a soothing victory for a team desperate for something to celebrate.

At the end, with a crowd of 16,277 standing and cheering, the Clippers heaped praise upon point guard Andre Miller. It was Miller who hoisted his teammates on his back for long stretches, keeping them in the game and ultimately leading them to their third victory in nine games at Staples.

Miller outdueled Jason Kidd by any measure available to judge two of the NBA’s best point guards, enabling the Clippers to reach overtime with a three-point basket with 4.9 seconds remaining in regulation that tied the score at 111.

Miller tied his career-best with 37 points on 14-for-24 shooting, added a season-best 16 assists and orchestrated a Clipper comeback from an 11-0 deficit to start the game with 48 minutes of his best ball in L.A.

“Unbelievable,” Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “As good as it gets. The guy on the other end [Kidd]....”

Gentry let out a low whistle.

“Those are two pretty darn good point guards,” he added.

Kidd went for 35 points on 12-for-24 shooting and added eight assists and eight rebounds in 42 minutes. He was powerless to halt the Clippers’ charge from a 10-point deficit in the fourth quarter and couldn’t slow them during overtime.

“Die another day, baby,” said Clipper forward Elton Brand, who had 21 points. “I think it was imperative that we got this win. We won this game down in the trenches, when it was a two-point lead, a three-point lead.”

Of Miller, Brand said, “He was on fire. He really stepped up. That’s the best he’s played for us.”

A 15-0 run in the fourth quarter brought the Clippers from a 96-86 deficit into a 101-96 lead in about 4 1/2 minutes. The Clippers would lose the lead, but fought back to force overtime when Eric Piatkowski faked two Nets off their feet and found an open Miller along the left wing.

Bingo.

Overtime hasn’t been kind to the Clippers in recent seasons. They had lost seven consecutive, including a 101-99 defeat Nov. 6 against the Philadelphia 76ers. But the Clippers did not falter in the five-minute extra period Thursday.

Brand’s driving layup and free throw after he was fouled gave the Clippers the lead for good, 118-116, with 3:02 remaining. Quentin Richardson followed with a jump shot from the right wing off an assist from Miller for a 120-116 lead.

Game over.

The last time the Clippers saw the Nets, on Nov. 8, Kidd was a blur. He scored 35 points, including 27 in the second half, when the Nets pulled away for a 106-92 victory at East Rutherford, N.J. Miller had 20 points in that game.

Kidd and the Nets were less impressive during Wednesday’s 82-75 defeat against the Suns at Phoenix, the second stop on a five-game trip to the West. The Nets’ woeful 26-for-88 shooting (29.5%) tied the lowest field-goal percentage in America West Arena history and doomed them to their fifth loss in 15 games.

Kidd’s five-for-21 shooting en route to 17 points in 40 minutes didn’t do much to aid the Nets’ cause against his former team. Phoenix fans booed Kidd, sent to New Jersey for Stephon Marbury before the 2001-02 season began.

In the rematch between the Clippers and Nets on Thursday, Miller and Kidd went at each other from the start. By halftime, Miller had 19 points on eight-for-11 shooting and Kidd had 13 points on five-for-eight shooting.

New Jersey had a 54-50 lead by halftime.

The Nets started as if they had a plane to catch, winning the opening tip and racing to leads of 11-0 and 13-2 before the Clippers snapped to life and, eventually, seized a 24-19 lead of their own after Piatkowski made a three-pointer.

New Jersey would take control again in the second, when Lucious Harris kept the Nets ahead with three three-pointers and a jump shot in the final moments of the quarter.