Clippers Shock Nets

Finally, the Los Angeles Clippers know what it feels like to string together a couple of wins.

It had been a long time.

Lamond Murray capped a 22-point performance by making two 3-point shots down the stretch Tuesday night, giving the Clippers a 109-101 victory over the New Jersey Nets and their first two-game winning streak in over 15 months.

"I'm aware of it, I've been here long enough," Murray said with a smile concerning the fact the Clippers, coming off an 89-83 victory at Portland on Saturday night, hadn't won as many as two straight games since winning three in a row from Dec. 27, 1997 to Jan. 3, 1998.

"It's nice just to play well, for us to be playing like we've been playing of late and to win some close games," said Maurice Taylor, who had 18 points and 12 rebounds.

"I was aware we didn't have a two-game winning streak this season," said Sherman Douglas, who scored six of his 18 points in the fourth quarter and also had six assists. "Right now, I think we're playing a lot better basketball."

Murray was scoreless in the second half until his 3-pointer with 2:37 remaining put the Clippers ahead 104-96. He made another with 53.9 seconds to play to complete the scoring.

"Any time you're that wide open, you shoot the shot, and I shot it," Murray said of his late heroics. "We ran a play for me, we knew if they double-teamed Sherman and I was open, I'd take the shot."

And so he did. Twice. His second one gave the Clippers a single-game high in points this season.

"They're a confidence-type team, and we allowed them to get their confidence," said Keith Van Horn, who led the Nets with 33 points, 14 in the fourth quarter. "No matter what run we made, they were feeling it tonight. Our defense wasn't there and that allowed them to get their confidence goig, and it just continued throughout the game."

Rookie Tyrone Nesby added 20 points for the Clippers, and Michael Olowokandi, another Los Angeles rookie, had 11 rebounds and a career-high five blocked shots.

By winning for the third time in four games, the Clippers (6-31) made certain they would finish the abbreviated 50-game season with a better winning percentage than Philadelphia's 1972-73 team, which set a record for futility with a 9-73 record (.110).

Stephon Marbury added 23 points for the Nets, all in the final three periods, and also had eight assists. Kerry Kittles scored 16 points, and Jamie Feick equaled a career high with 15 rebounds despite playing only 26 minutes for New Jersey.

The Clippers appeared to have the game well in hand after three quarters, holding an 89-74 lead.

However, with Van Horn leading the way with eight points, the Nets went on a 12-2 run to start the fourth period to draw the Nets within five points. However, that was as close as they would get.

"The energy team won," said interim Nets coach Don Casey. "They came out excited from their win in Portland, and I thought they played very actively and very aggressively, and our response was nil in the second half."

"Keith and Feick were just overpowered. I mean, I don't remember giving up so many layups."

Notes: The announced attendance was 6,218. ... The Clippers are 4-14 at home. Every other NBA team has at least six home victories. ... The Clippers signed guard Troy Hudson to a multi-year contract before the game. Hudson, averaging 4.7 points and 1.7 assists, had previously signed two 10-day contracts and played in 11 games. He played five minutes against the Nets and didn't score. ... Casey was coach of the Clippers for half of the 1988-89 season and all of the following campaign, and guided the team to a 41-85 record. ... The Nets have a 7-10 record under Casey, who took the job when John Calipari was fired last month. ... Nets center Rony Seikaly, who has spent much of the season in the sidelines due to an injured right foot, had one point in six minutes of action all in the first half. ... The Clippers had eight of their 19 turnovers in the fourth quarter. The Nets had 13 turnovers overall two in the final period.

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