Clippers end long trip with 96-89 win

MILWAUKEE -- The Clippers have had enough of their chilly trip.

“You don’t know how much I want to get back to 75 degrees,” Corey Maggette said. “I’ll send you a postcard.”

Al Thornton scored 25 points, and Sam Cassell had 21 points and eight assists as the Clippers beat the Milwaukee Bucks, 96-89, on Monday night to finish 3-4 on their trip. Maggette scored 20 points, including 10 free throws.

“We talked earlier that getting three wins on this trip would be a nice trip for us,” Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

Mo Williams, who sat out Saturday’s game against New York because of flu, led Milwaukee with 31 points. Michael Redd finished with only 11 points on three-for-13 shooting, taking only one shot in the first half.

Milwaukee has lost a season-high three straight home games, and lost for the sixth time in seven games.

“I’m not going to sugarcoat it,” Milwaukee Coach Larry Krystkowiak said. “We’ve got some agendas creeping in. Good teams don’t have that. I’d be lying to say we’re not down. There’s no doubt about that. It’s easy to start separating, and it’s happening. We need to put an end to it.”

Thornton’s dunk gave the Clippers an 89-81 lead with 2:59 left in the game, and they held on despite making only one more shot the rest of the way.

The Bucks missed 14 of their first 17 shots in the fourth quarter.

“That’s what I’m talking about,” said Williams, who shot 12 for 20. “You get those shots back, I think we’ll make 14 out of 17. Unfortunately we didn’t and that kind of hurt us.”

Yi Jianlian made a jumper to cut the deficit to 92-89 with 20 seconds left, but the Bucks failed to score again as Maggette made four free throws.

Cassell was pleased with the game’s outcome.

“The way we’ve been struggling, any win is a good win,” Cassell said.

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The Clippers activated injured forward Paul Davis, out because of a torn knee ligament, before the game, though Davis is not close to playing again.

Under NBA rules, a team cannot dip below 12 players on its active list for more than a two-week period. The Clippers have been at 11 since the expiration of Guillermo Diaz’s second 10-day contract, on Jan. 28.

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Times staff writer Jonathan Abrams contributed to this report.