Maggette and Co. Quiet Sonics
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 12 (Ticker) -- Led by Corey Maggette and Darrick Martin,
the Los Angeles Clippers withstood a late surge by the Seattle SuperSonics to
split a home-and-away series.
Maggette scored 31 points and had 10 rebounds and Martin scored seven of his
10 points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers held on for a 103-92 victory
over the SuperSonics. After losing 104-99 to the SuperSonics Tuesday, Los Angeles beat Seattle for
the second time in three meetings and clinched the season series for the
first time since the 1989-90 campaign.
"We came in and made the adjustments," Martin said. "That's what this league
is about. Just making adjustments from game to game. We had the advantage
playing them on the back-to-back. We had just seen them and they were fresh
in our mind. We came in and watched some film and made the adjustments."
Maggette scored 19 points and Elton Brand added 13 of his 19 in the first
half to lead the Clippers to a 51-42 lead at the break.
"I think I did a lot of good things tonight," Maggette said. "I want to help
my team win. That is the biggest thing and to get us back to .500. We
capitalized on some things, including turnovers, and we made some big plays."
But Seattle, which shot just 33 percent (15-of-45) in the first half, battled
back to tie it, 70-70, after three quarters.
Kerry Kittles, who scored 11 points off the bench, had the first four points
of the fourth quarter to give the Clippers the lead for good.
"It's a big win for us," Brand said. "It gives us a lot of confidence. We
felt we should have won last night so the turnaround to beat them tonight is
just a big win for us."
Danny Fortson's layup reduced Seattle's deficit to 89-85 with 2:36 remaining,
but Martin answered with a key 3-pointer just 17 seconds later.
Martin added another basket with 43 seconds remaining and Los Angeles hit
seven straight free throws over the final two minutes to seal the victory.
"I was playing in the CBA before I got here and before that chasing my
4-year-old around the house," Martin said. "So between those two things I
stay in pretty good shape."
"We showed some growth," Brand said. "At home especially we should be able to
put teams away late in the fourth quarter. We should know how to put them
away like we showed tonight."
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy was pleased with how Martin stepped up his play.
"Down the stretch we executed well, got some good looks and then Darrick
(Martin) hit two big shots back-to-back," Dunleavy said. "The contribution
tonight by Darrick is why we picked him up."
After Brand's jumper gave Los Angeles a 62-53 lead with five minutes left in
the third quarter, Vladimir Radmanovic hit consecutive 3-pointers to spark
Seattle's quarter-ending 17-8 run.
Ray Allen scored 22 points but Rashard Lewis managed just eight before
leaving with a left knee injury in the second quarter. The Sonics shot only
41 percent (33-of-80), including 5-of-25 from the arc.
"They were concentrating on what I was trying to do tonight," said Allen, who
scored 31 points against the Clippers on Tuesday. "And when Rashard Lewis was
unable to play the second half it made us look in other areas of our team to
find some scoring. And I feel I didn't do a good job a spreading the wealth.
"I think it was evident that playing the second game of back-to-back games is
tough on the visitor. I think the pressure was off us because we won last
night but we came out with no energy. That just killed our whole momentum."
Dunleavy was pleased with the way Los Angeles contained Seattle's high-octane
offense.
"We have enough personnel to be able to play them small when they go small,"
Dunleavy said. "And to get a hand up on the outside shooters. I cut up some
film from last night's game to help us talk about our mistakes and what works
for us."
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