CLIPPERS FINALLY WIN IN OVERTIME.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

Like any team bent on abiding by sports cliches, the Clippers say they, yawn, take their games one at a time. Two days later, they were still reeling from their morale-killing loss Saturday to Minnesota, their third overtime defeat in this young season.

Nothing could have been more appreciated from the NBA scheduling gods than a visit Monday night from the expansion Charlotte Bobcats.

The only problem was the Clippers had a hangover from their OT loss, and it led to extra time again. They finally pulled out a 99-93 triumph in double overtime, with Corey Maggette scoring four of his 33 points in the second overtime period in front of 14,065 at Staples Center.

Mikki Moore got the Clippers started in the second extra period with a dunk off a feed from Marko Jaric with 4:36 remaining. No one else scored until Maggette sank two free throws with 1:30 left for a four-point lead. Kapono hit a 17-footer at the other end, but Chris Kaman responded for the Clippers with a layup that gave them a 95-91 lead with 56 seconds to play.

Emeka Okafor made it a two-point game with a pair of free throws, but Bobby Simmons followed with a fadeaway 19-footer from the right baseline with 10.4 seconds remaining and Maggette added two free throws.

The Clippers held an 89-85 lead with 42.6 seconds left, but they saw that evaporate in less than 32 seconds. After Charlotte's Jason Kapono made a jump shot, Brevin Knight stole the ball from Maggette and made a fast-break layup to tie the score at 89 with 11.4 remaining.

The Clippers did not get a shot on their next possession, but got the ball out of bounds with 0.4 seconds to go. Again, the Clippers did not get a shot.

Both teams could have won it in regulation. First, Knight missed a jump shot with seven seconds left. Following the miss, Jaric elected not to call a timeout, instead driving the length of the court for a layup attempt over Okafor. Jaric missed the layup after Okafor made him alter his shot.

The Clippers looked frustrated all game by the pesky Bobcats, and that frustration climaxed with 3:28 left, when Elton Brand violently pushed Okafor. Officials immediately ejected Brand for his outburst, and the forward simply jogged off the court. Neither he nor any of the Clippers argued the call.

After Okafor made two free throws and Knight made his first jump shot of the game, the Clippers trailed 77-71 with 3:19 to play.

The Clippers used consecutive three-point plays by Maggette and Chris Wilcox to tie it at 77.

Charlotte led most of the game and were up 66-63 heading into the fourth quarter. The Clippers led only once in the third quarter, at 60-58 with 2:25 left, their first lead since the first quarter. The Clippers appeared to take control with an 8-0 run for a 71-68 lead with 6:22 to play, but after surrendering that advantage, they didn't lead again until overtime.

Brand scored 19 points with seven rebounds and five assists before he was ejected.

The Clippers might have been expected to win easily against Charlotte, but they weren't thinking that Coach Mike Dunleavy made it clear his squad had not taken the Bobcats too lightly.

``For some teams, I think the possibility (of overlooking Charlotte) is there,'' Dunleavy said. ``Hopefully, that's not the case with us for us. We addressed it. We're not good enough to think that highly of ourselves.

``We got to come out and play these games like there's no tomorrow. If we want to have a chance to make the playoffs, we have to win these types of games.''

Charlotte led 47-44 at halftime, and the Clippers never sustained a long run. The Bobcats led by as many as seven, holding a 34-27 lead with 9:42 left in the first half.

In their loss to Minnesota, turnovers and missed free throws harmed the Clippers. Dunleavy used that loss as a learning tool, making the team stay longer than normal at practice while watching how they reacted to matchups and what they did wrong.

The Clippers shot 86.7 percent (13 of 15) from the free-throw line Monday, but they did not show improvement with turnovers in the first half, giving the ball away 10 times to the Bobcats' five. It wasn't as if one player was the culprit: Four Clippers had two turnovers.

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Photo:

(color) The Clippers' Elton Brand, right, shoots over the Bobcats' Melvin Ely

John McCoy/Staff Photographer

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