CLIPPERS REACH SOUR 16; LAKERS JUST STAVE OFF HAPLESS INTRACITY RIVALS : LAKERS 103, CLIPPERS 99.Byline: Randy Hill This is a tale of one city and two streaks . . . mean and lean. The former is maintained by the mighty Lakers, whose 103-99 victory over the Clippers in front of 13,380 at the Sports Arena on Tuesday was their eighth in a row since hitting the ejector ejector (ijekt  r),n by common usage, a device used to remove debris and fluids by negative pressure. Another term is aspirator. See also aspirator. button beneath the seat of coach Del Harris. The latter is attached like a barnacle barnacle, common name of the sedentary crustacean animals constituting the subclass Cirripedia. Barnacles are exclusively marine and are quite unlike any other crustacean because of the permanently attached, or sessile, mode of existence for which they are highly to the Clippers, who have modeled the agony of defeat for the first 16 games this season. A similar result in tonight's rematch at the Forum would equal the NBA NBA abbr. 1. National Basketball Association 2. National Boxing Association NBA (US) n abbr (= National Basketball Association) → Basketball-Dachverband (= record for season-opening failure - 17 - established in 1988 by the Miami Heat The Miami Heat (known as the HEAT [in all capital letters] on official team publications) are a professional basketball team based in Miami, Florida, United States. They play in the National Basketball Association (NBA). . Our subplot sub·plot n. 1. A plot subordinate to the main plot of a literary work or film. Also called counterplot, underplot. 2. A subdivision of a plot of land, especially a plot used for experimental purposes. stars both coaches - Kurt Rambis Darrell Kurt Rambis (born February 25, 1958 in Cupertino, California) is an American former professional basketball player and current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Lakers. , who has yet to lose while sitting in the Lakers' catbird seat catbird seat n. A position of power or prominence. , and Clippers coach Chris Ford Christopher Joseph Ford (born January 11, 1949 in Atlantic City, New Jersey, USA) is a former professional basketball player and head coach. A 6' 5" (1.96 m) guard from Villanova University, he played ten seasons (1972-1982) in the NBA as a member of the Detroit Pistons and Boston , who must be saving a fortune on victory cigars. ``Sometimes you have games like these,'' said Rambis, sounding almost apologetic about the margin of victory. ``You just have to gut it out.'' Ford, while refusing to take any consolation bows, did take comfort in his team's willingness to scrap. ``I thought the guys laid it on the line,'' Ford said. ``That was a man's game out there.'' The main man was Lakers center Shaquille O'Neal Shaquille Rashaun O'Neal (pronounced "shak-KEEL") (born March 6, 1972 in Newark, New Jersey), frequently referred to simply as Shaq, is an American professional basketball player, generally regarded as one of the most dominant in the National Basketball Association (NBA). , whose trouble with fouling kept him on the bench long enough for the Clippers to rally in the fourth quarter. A lead that had swelled to 17 points in the third quarter was trimmed to four, at 88-84, when Darrick Martin Darrick David Martin (born March 6, 1971 in Denver, Colorado, United States) is an American professional basketball player, currently with the NBA's Toronto Raptors. Martin has became known as a solid veteran who provided quality minutes as a reserve, maintaining a career free , the gutty little ex-UCLA Bruin, bagged two free throws with 4:08 to play. Shaq returned in time to contribute two mammoth, streak-preservation dunks over 7-foot-3 Clipper Keith Closs, who is more than 100 pounds - give or take a gumdrop gum·drop n. A small candy made of sweetened, colored, and flavored gum arabic or gelatin and often coated with sugar. gumdrop Noun a small hard fruit-flavoured jelly-like sweet Noun 1. - lighter than O'Neal. O'Neal finished with 31 points, 12 rebounds and five blocked shots. ``It wasn't pretty,'' said O'Neal, showing a flair for understatement, ``but we did some key things down the stretch and got the win.'' Anti-Laker Dennis Rodman high-stepped off the bench for a season-high 20 rebounds. Eddie Jones and backup center Elden Campbell, on the hook Adj. 1. on the hook - caught in a difficult or dangerous situation; "there I was back on the hook" dangerous, unsafe - involving or causing danger or risk; liable to hurt or harm; "a dangerous criminal"; "a dangerous bridge"; "unemployment reached dangerous at press time as trade bait, contributed 16 and 11 points, respectively. Kobe Bryant was reduced to 28 minutes because of frequent fouling but contributed two big plays down the stretch and finished with 16 points. ``They have nothing to lose at this point,'' Bryant said, perhaps unaware that the Clippers have 34 more games remaining. ``There's no pressure. They can just go out and play.'' The Clipper who did the most playing was rookie free agent Tyrone Nesby, who scored 13 of his 16 points in the opening half. Included in his catalog of fearless maneuvers was an attempt to slam dunk over O'Neal. The only slamming was done by O'Neal, who was credited with a flagrant foul. It was an inconclusive act of defiance by Nesby, but it did demonstrate that a least some Clippers refuse to go gently into the record books. Unfortunately, they also refused to go gently at the free-throw line, missing 11 of 15 attempts in the first half. ``We definitely have to nail the free throws,'' Nesby said. It might be easier if they had the hammer. More rumors for Jones, Campbell: There's nothing like the NBA trade winds to blow an issue out of proportion. With the league's swap-meet deadline scheduled for Thursday, the proposed deal involving the Lakers and the Charlotte Hornets continues to gather steam. As has been reported for the past few weeks, the Lakers would ship Jones and Campbell to Charlotte in exchange for hotshot small forward Glen Rice, power forward J.R. Reid and guard B.J. Armstrong. ``All I do is deal with me,'' Jones said before Tuesday's game with the Clippers at the Sports Arena. ``It'll work out no matter how it comes out.'' But recent breezes indicate the Lakers are considering a trade with Milwaukee that would bring free-agent point guard Terrell Brandon in exchange for Campbell. That would give the playoff-contending Bucks a low-post presence but require the addition of a floor leader to replace Brandon. According to a league source, Lakers owner Jerry Buss isn't wild about dealing Jones but would love the opportunity to jettison jettison (jĕt`əsən, –zən) [O.Fr.,=throwing], in maritime law, casting all or part of a ship's cargo overboard to lighten the vessel or to meet some danger, such as fire. Campbell. `Kandi' update: According to Clippers rookie center Michael Olowokandi, his visit to the injured list (left ankle) is expected to end tonight at the Forum. The 7-footer from Pacific injured the ankle the last time the Clippers played at the Forum. RUN AT FUTILITY The Clippers' loss Tuesday pulls them within a game of the NBA record for most losses to start a season. Tracking their record run: 17: 1988 Miami Heat 16: 1994 Clippers 16: 1999 Clippers Next: Today against Lakers CAPTION(S): Photo, Chart PHOTO (Color) Shaquille O'Neal looks for an open man as the Clippers' Lorenzen Wright pesters. Phil McCarten/Daily News CHART: RUN AT FUTILITY (see text) Daily News |
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