Brand Central for Clippers

There were no gremlins lurking on the Staples Center rims Monday, swatting Clipper shots into the hands of the opposition. There were no phantom calls from the officials that had the Clippers shaking their heads in disbelief.

And there were few moments of despair for the Clippers en route to a 102-89 victory over the woebegone Denver Nuggets before a crowd of 16,672.

Now it’s on to weightier matters. The Clippers get their third crack at the Lakers on Wednesday. They are 0-2 against their rivals from down the hall.

No question, the Clippers must be better Wednesday against the champions than they were Monday against the dregs. Isn’t it always the case when teams play the Lakers?

Monday, the Clippers happily put away another home victory, regaining control against the Nuggets after a brief bobble late in the third quarter. The Clippers built a 20-point lead late in the first quarter, then watched it all slip away by the closing minutes of the third.

Jeff McInnis’ jump shot and Elton Brand’s tip-in of a McInnis miss at the buzzer gave the Clippers the lead back, 75-71, entering the fourth quarter. Once in the lead again, the Clippers seized control and improved to 18-7 at Staples. They also returned to the .500 mark at 21-21.

Brand had a huge game, scoring a season-best 31 points and taking 14 rebounds. Reserves Quentin Richardson, who had 17 points, and Darius Miles, who had a monster dunk in the fourth quarter over Raef LaFrentz among his 12 points, gave the team a jolt.

The Clippers also made 42 of 85 shots (49.4%).

Nick Van Exel had 19 points for the Nuggets, who shot 37 of 91 (40.7%) and fell to 2-16 on the road, losing their 14th in a row away from home.

“If you think I’m going to complain about a win, you’re wrong,� Clipper Coach Alvin Gentry said. “We’ll take them any way we can get them. We finished strong and won the game and that was the important thing. To me, it was a great win. Obviously, there were some things we didn’t do well. But the bench played great and gave us a huge lift. Elton Brand was sensational.�

Gentry then cast a vote for Brand for the Western Conference All-Star team.

“It will be a crime if he’s not on the team,� Gentry said. “I hope all the coaches in the West are watching him. I know there’s a lot of great forwards in the West, but it will be a shame if he’s not voted to the team.�

Brand was grateful for the endorsement but stopped short of booking a flight to Philadelphia, site of the Feb. 10 game.

“It definitely would be a great honor,� Brand said. “It’s not up to me. I look at it as I’m still only 22. I’ve got a lot of time left in my career.�

McInnis did not start for the first time since missing a game Nov. 20, 2000 because of an injury. Earl Boykins started in place of McInnis, who was benched by Gentry because he missed Monday’s morning shoot-around.

“I set my alarm clock for 8:45 p.m. instead of 8:45 a.m.,� said McInnis, who would score 13 points in 30 minutes. “I’m human.�

The Clippers rocketed away from the Nuggets with Boykins, who stands 5 feet 5 and weighs 133 pounds, directing them. The game plan from the opening tip was to drop the ball inside to center Michael Olowokandi again and again.

By the end of the quarter, the Clippers had a 37-21 lead and Olowokandi had 12 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots. He would finish with 14 points, 10 rebounds and six blocks. He also passed Bill Walton for sixth place on the club’s all-time list for blocks with 387

“I thought Michael was great,� Gentry said. “We have a tendency to forget about him sometimes. We have to make sure we keep getting him the ball in the low post.�

The Clippers also made 16 of 26 shots (61.5%) in the opening quarter and made the Nuggets miss 15 of 22. The Clippers hustled after loose balls, made the Nuggets appear every bit as bad as their 12-28 record would indicate and threatened to turn the game into a runaway.

And then the second quarter began. Denver awoke with a start, and by halftime, the lead was down to 59-52.

Before the game, the Clippers signed guard Eldridge Recasner to a second 10-day contract. Recasner is simply an insurance policy against injury to McInnis or Boykins.

Keyon Dooling, McInnis’ backup, has been sidelined since Nov. 14 by a badly sprained right ankle. No date has been set for Dooling’s return, but it will probably coincide with the end of Recasner’s 10-day contract.