Clippers Take Bumpy Road to Victory

While growing into playoff contenders -- they hope -- the Clippers have stayed close to the Western Conference elite by feasting on the NBA’s lesser lights, winning the games they believe they are supposed to win.

On Monday night, they were nearly served up themselves.

The expansion Charlotte Bobcats, winless on the road and among the worst teams in the Eastern Conference, pushed them to two overtimes before the Clippers finally won, 99-93, in front of 14,065 in Staples Center.

“I was totally disgusted by our performance,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said after the Clippers won for the sixth time in their last seven games. “I didn’t think we deserved to win this game at all tonight. I thought we were bailed out by a couple of great shots ... but defensively I thought they played harder than we did. ...

“We didn’t show the toughness that I need to see for this team to be what I consider a playoff team. We’ve got a lot more work to go, things to do.”

On the other hand, the Clippers rallied from a six-point deficit over the last three minutes of regulation and outscored the Bobcats in the second overtime, 10-4, with their best player watching on television in the locker room.

Elton Brand, who had 19 points, seven rebounds, five assists and five blocked shots in 34 minutes, was ejected with 3:28 to play in regulation after bumping and shoving Bobcat rookie Emeka Okafor, apparently in frustration after Okafor crowded him and poked the ball away.

“It was very tough, very disappointing,” Brand said of watching the final minutes. “I wasn’t trying to let my team down ... but I was just trying to get a guy off me. You know, just create some space. It definitely wasn’t anything malicious. ...

“It felt like I got hit in the face some. I’m just reacting.”

Corey Maggette scored 33 points and took 11 rebounds to lead the Clippers, who also got 16 points and nine rebounds from Bobby Simmons.

Two free throws by Maggette with 29 seconds to play in the fourth quarter sent the game into overtime, tying the score at 79-79 only 17 seconds after teammate Chris Kaman was called for goaltending on a layup by Brevin Knight.

Maggette, who made 19 of 21 free throws, made two jumpers late in the first overtime to give the Clippers an 89-85 lead, but a shot from the corner by Jason Kapono made it a two-point game, setting up a steal by Knight.

Knight stripped the ball from Maggette at the top of the key and drove to the other end for a layup that tied the score again with 11.4 seconds left.

Maggette scored four more points in the second overtime.

Five players scored in double figures for the Bobcats, who made seven of 13 three-point shots. Kapono and Primoz Brezec each scored 14 points. Okafor had 12 points and 15 rebounds, and Knight had 13 assists.

The Clippers are 3-5 against teams that made the playoffs last season, 0-3 against Western Conference playoff teams, but are 7-1 against teams with losing records. The only loss was to the Houston Rockets, in overtime.

The Bobcats had won three of their previous five games, including a victory over the defending NBA champion Detroit Pistons. However, they were 0-6 on the road as they embarked on their first West Coast trip.

Not that Dunleavy expected his team to be overconfident.

“We’re not good enough to think that highly of ourselves,” he said before the game. “We’ve got to come out and play these games like there’s no tomorrow. It’s important for us, if we’re going to have a chance to make the playoffs, to win these kinds of games.”

It was more of a struggle than expected, but they did.