Brand’s return throws off some

How spur of the moment was Elton Brand’s season debut Wednesday against the Seattle SuperSonics?

His mother and wife missed it. Instead, they were en route to Sacramento, where Brand was expected to play in his first game back from a ruptured Achilles’ tendon in Thursday’s 110-98 loss to the Kings.

Reporters who had planned to go to Brand’s first game were left stranded. Television crews rushed to cobble together a video highlight package to go with his return when they realized they no longer had another day.

Brand, who had been medically cleared to play for the last week, had asked to go in the layup line with his teammates a couple of hours before tipoff Wednesday. That led to him being green-lighted by athletic trainer Jasen Powell for limited minutes against Seattle.

That led to 19 points and a key blocked shot in 26 minutes while playing with a relatively new cast of teammates. And also mild surprise that Brand displayed such fluidity on the court so quickly after sitting for 74 games.

“He looked better than I would have expected,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said. “His first couple of shots were flat and then he got into a rhythm and it was kind of like old times.”

And, even better, there was no soreness afterward -- a large mental roadblock in his return dodged.

“I’m healthy so I wanted to get out there for my coaches and teammates and fans, even if it is late in the season,” Brand said.

He followed his season debut with 15 points and nine rebounds in 27 minutes Thursday. It included successive blocks against the Kings’ Brad Miller in the post.

And Brand, who can opt out of the final year of his contract this off-season, continues to mention his involvement as a centerpiece of next year’s team.

“It’s definitely a team to be excited about,” Brand said. “We have a lot of work to do and guys understand that. We’ve already talked about that.”

Brand will make his home debut this season Sunday, when the Clippers play host to the Houston Rockets.

Dunleavy said he is unsure if Brand will start by then, but expects him to by the end of the season, which includes six more games.

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Kevin Martin made four three-point baskets and scored 26 points to help Sacramento avoid a four-game season sweep by the Clippers.

Francisco Garcia scored 17 points and Mikki Moore added 16 for the Kings, who took a 20-point lead in the third quarter of their fourth victory in five games.

Corey Maggette scored 28 points for the Clippers, who played without Chris Kaman (ankle), Cuttino Mobley (heel) and Tim Thomas (leg).

Clippers rookie Nick Fazekas scored a career-best 18 points.

Martin scored nine points in the third quarter as the Kings pulled away.

Though well out of the playoff race, Sacramento (35-40) already has surpassed its 33-win total from last season, when its streak of eight consecutive postseason appearances ended.

Sacramento took a 50-43 lead into halftime when Martin made back-to-back three-pointers in the final minute, including one at the buzzer.

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The Associated Press contributed to this report.