BRAND IS CLUTCH AS L.A. HOLDS ON FORWARD HITS KEY SHOTS NEAR END CLIPPERS 101, MIAMI 97.

Byline: JOE STEVENS Staff Writer

Elton Brand does not have the flash of Dwyane Wade.

But on Tuesday night, he made the clutch shots Wade didn't and got something he'd prefer to the flash -- the win.

Brand made two free throws and a basket in the final minute and had 33 points and 17 rebounds to lead the Clippers to a 101-97 victory over the Miami Heat at Staples Center.

Clinging to a 92-91 lead, Brand made a jump shot with 52.1 seconds, then followed that with two free throws to put the Clippers up 94-91 with 40.4 seconds left.

Wade missed a jump shot in the Heat's next possession, and the Clippers sealed the win with free throws. Like Brand, Wade finished with 33 points.

In their previous game, the Clippers had their best game of the season, a 116-91 win over Orlando, which has the best record in the Eastern Conference. So staying afloat after that breakthrough was important.

``It's a momentum game for us, a getaway game,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said before meeting Miami. ``I'd like to see that we can put another game together like we just played because that was the team, and the way that I envisioned we'd be playing. Hopefully, that last game was our turning point.''

Against Miami, it wasn't nearly as crisp. The Clippers finished with 18 turnovers and let Miami back into the game after leading by 16 points in the third quarter.

Just when the Clippers looked to have regained control with a 92-84 lead with 2:38 left, the Heat rattled off seven straight points to pull to 92-91 with Sam Cassell on the bench, presumably for Shaun Livingston's defense. Brand then made his key shots for the Clippers to pull out the win.

The Heat only had nine turnovers, but basically shot themselves out of the game, going 3 of 25 (12 percent) from 3-point range.

Clippers notes: Zeljko Rebraca received medical clearance to start conditioning.

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