CLIPPERS AVOID SLIP THEY HOLD ON DESPITE POOR FOURTH QUARTER CLIPPERS 95, CHARLOTTE 87.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

The Clippers faced a Charlotte Bobcats squad with a much worse record, a team that mathematically they are ``supposed to beat.''

If that were the case, it hardly played out according to the Clippers' plans on Monday night, although they walked away with a win.

Elton Brand had another impressive 35 points and 10 rebounds to help the Clippers recover from a season-high 23 turnovers in a 95-87 victory in front of 15,273 at Staples Center.

The Clippers were on their way to a blowout, leading by as many as 21 points in the third quarter. But they wobbled in the fourth quarter and were outscored 24-16 in the period.

Sam Cassell added 18 points and 11 assists, and Cuttino Mobley added 14 points as the Clippers won a second consecutive game.

Spanning the end of the second quarter and beginning of the third quarter, the Clippers rocked the Bobcats with a 22-2 run to go up 67-46 with 8:56 left in the third quarter. The Clippers led by at least 14 points during the third quarter and looked poised for a blowout.

But with the Clippers falling out of sync in the fourth quarter, Charlotte hung around and pulled to 88-81 with 3:10 left on a 3-point shot by former Laker Jumaine Jones. After an offensive foul by Mobley, Jones missed a jump shot that would have cut it to five points.

With 1:42 to play, Charlotte's Brevin Knight split the Clipper defense for a layup to pull the Bobcats to 89-83. Brand later made a key jump shot with 54.5 left to put the Clippers up eight points and thwart the Bobcats' attempt for a miraculous

Knight finished with 12 points and 17 assists, Jones had 17 points and Gerald Wallace had 15 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bobcats.

The game was especially sloppy. Not only did the Clippers have their 23 turnovers, which Charlotte converted into 17 points, but the Bobcats had 21 turnovers, which the Clippers converted into 25 points.

Charlotte (15-43) has the worst record in the NBA and fell to 5-25 on the road. With the Clippers coming off a 19-point victory over the Lakers, they could have had a tendency to look past the Bobcats or maybe take a win for granted.

``There are games where you guard against that and you talk about it,'' coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``We did that. We talked about how important it is to beat teams that aren't maybe as good as you in the standings and to respect what their abilities are.''

There were hardly any signs of taking the Bobcats for granted as the Clippers went up 59-44 at halftime. However, the Clippers did not pull far ahead until the end of the second quarter when they blasted Charlotte with a 16-2 to end the first half. They punctuated the run with a 3-point shot by Mobley with 2.0 seconds left.

Mobley continues to play with a taped index finger on his shooting hand. But apparently, that hasn't hindered his scoring because he had averaged 21.4 points in the past five games before meeting Charlotte.

``I just want everybody to stop talking about my finger,'' Mobley said. ``There isn't anything soft about me. The only thing soft about me is that I love my son to death.''

Joe Stevens, [phone]

joe.stevens(at)presstelegram.com

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2 photos, box

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Clippers' Elton Brand Shoots over Charlotte's Primoz Brezec in the first half of Monday's game.

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

(2) The Clippers' Daniel Ewing (3) defends Charlotte's Raymond Felton, right, in the first half.

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