Clippers get second wind

MEMPHIS, Tenn. -- Arms folded, by his lonesome on the bench, Chris Kaman looked ahead at everything and nothing all at once.

It was shortly before the second half began Friday and he idled, contemplating the Clippers’ recent second-half woes.

“We’ve been struggling in the third quarter a lot,” Kaman said. “I went out, trying to concentrate and prepare myself.”

No worries, for one evening at least, the team finally having an answer and some help from the short-handed Memphis Grizzlies in a 98-91 victory at the FedExForum in front of 10,819.

The Clippers maintained their slim halftime margin, benefiting from 25 Memphis turnovers that translated into 23 points against the Pau Gasol-less Grizzlies.

The Clippers have beat Memphis in four straight games. The Grizzlies presented themselves, so the Clippers unwrapped them for a season-high 16 steals.

The Clippers now return to Los Angeles, where they play Sunday against the Lakers, the last of four consecutive road games.

“Our defense stepped up and we had a lot of good action, a lot of good hustle,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “We had a lot of guys do a lot of good things.”

Chief among them was Kaman, who is playing exceptionally in what is almost now an expected fashion.

Kaman dominated the post, pushing and plowing the Grizzlies’ Darko Milicic. When the dust cleared, Kaman had 23 points and 16 rebounds on nine-for-16 shooting.

He said he is starting to feel more comfortable while dealing with the double- and triple-teams lobbed his way every game.

“I’m trying, man,” Kaman said. “They are doing it different every game. It all depends. I think they let off in the second half there and I started going at it a little bit, making some baskets.”

Corey Maggette also had 23 points on seven-for-11 shooting. Paul Davis provided a spark off the bench with half of his eight rebounds on the offensive end.

And rookie Al Thornton scored 10 points and had seven rebounds.

“I’m trying to get into a little groove,” said Thornton, who played a majority of the second half after Ruben Patterson was waived and Tim Thomas sprained an ankle. “I think that’s the same way with anybody and more playing time.”

Mike Miller scored 23 points for Memphis and Hakim Warrick added 20, including 18 on seven-for-11 shooting in the first half.

Gasol, averaging 17.3 points and 7.7 rebounds, jammed his right big toe Thursday and is out indefinitely.

“We were just trying to do too much,” Grizzlies Coach Marc Iavaroni said. “Whether you call it careless or forcing it there. We are playing in clumps. We are throwing some really strange passes.”

The Clippers led by as many as nine in the first half, but it dwindled down to 46-44 at halftime. Maggette scored 14 points and hit all six of his free throws and Kaman added 13 points and eight rebounds.

The Grizzlies outrebounded the Clippers, 48-41, but Memphis’ carelessness started early with 10 turnovers in the first quarter leading to 12 Clippers points.

The Clippers (9-13) did not wilt in the second half, a characteristic of their recent losses, as the Grizzlies (6-16) went more than 10 minutes in the second half without a field goal, a franchise record.

The Clippers beat the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday, then blew a 12-point halftime lead and lost to the Charlotte Bobcats on Wednesday.

“If you start on a trip and someone says, ‘I’ll give you two out of three wins,’ you are probably going to take it,” Dunleavy said.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com