L.A. clips Sonics to clinch series
LOS ANGELES – Corey Maggette totaled 31 points and 10 rebounds, Darrick Martin made three clutch outside shots in the final 2 minutes, 21 seconds, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat the Seattle SuperSonics for the second time this season, 103-92 Thursday night.
The Clippers won the season series for the first time since 1989-90 by taking two of three, including a 114-84 victory at Staples Center on opening night.
Ray Allen had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Seattle. But Rashard Lewis, the Sonics’ second-leading scorer, had a season-low four points in 18 minutes and sat out the second half because of tendinitis in his left knee.
Maggette made a 16-footer and Quinton Ross picked the ball from Allen on the Sonics’ next possession, converting the steal into a breakaway dunk that gave Los Angeles an 83-76 lead with 6:42 remaining.
Allen answered that embarrassment with a 3-pointer. But the Sonics never got closer than that four-point spread thanks to Martin, who had his best game since rejoining the Clippers on Jan. 5 when he was signed to a 10-day contract.
Martin drained a 3-pointer, a 22-footer and a fadeaway 16-footer in a 1:37 span, and Bobby Simmons scored five of his 18 points on free throws in the final 36 seconds to clinch it.
The Sonics led once in the first half, when Reggie Evans opened the scoring with a short hook shot. They didn’t lead again until Ronald Murray’s 11-foot running jumper put them ahead 70-69 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.
Seattle rallied from as many as 13 points down in the third and tied it 64-all with an 11-4 run that included Vladimir Radmanovic’s first two baskets of the game – both on 3-pointers 43 seconds apart.
Allen, who scored 31 points against the Clippers in Tuesday night’s 104-99 victory at Seattle, missed seven of his first eight shots and was 7 for 20 overall. Radmanovic, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s win, missed his first six shots and finished 3 for 13 with eight points.
The Clippers used 19 points by Maggette and 13 from Brand to build a 51-42 halftime lead.
Seattle shot 33.3 percent in the first half, missing 12 of 15 attempts from behind the arc.
Los Angeles extended a two-point lead to 40-30 with a three-point play by Kerry Kittles, a 3-pointer by Maggette and a tip-in by Mikki Moore with 6:48 left in the second quarter. Martin’s layup gave the Clippers their biggest lead of the half, 44-33.