Wow! Clippers Beat Raptors 152-120

By CBSNews.com staff CBSNews.com staff

March 14, 1998 / 2:44 AM EST / CBS Sportsline

Pick the NBA team least likely to score 152 points and the Los Angeles Clippers will probably come to mind.

On Friday the 13th, that line of thinking couldn't have been more wrong.

The Clippers -- now 7-4 on Friday the 13th since moving to Los Angeles in 1984 -- recorded their largest point total in club history as they routed the Toronto Raptors 152-120 Friday night.

"I'd rather have 152 wins," said Bill Fitch, who has the second-most coaching victories in NBA history -- but only 14 in 63 games this season with the last-place Clippers. "We've had a lot thrown against us this season. Our guys deserved this."

Lamond Murray scored 25 points, Rodney Rogers added 24 and Darrick Martin had 21 to help the Clippers win for only the fifth time in 29 games and shatter their previous club record of 146 points set twice before.

The previous highest point total in the NBA this season was 140 by Phoenix in a quadruple overtime victory at Portland on Nov. 14. The biggest offensive output in regulation was by the Suns in a 134-105 rout of the Clippers on March 9 at Phoenix.

The Clippers' 152 points were the most in any NBA game since Dallas scored 156 in a double-overtime victory over Houston on April 11, 1995.

Gary Trent and Marcus Camby were missing from Toronto's lineup in the matchup of last place teams, and the Raptors absorbed their sixth straight loss and 13th in 15 games. Reggie Slater led Toronto with 20 points.

The Clippers shot 69.3 percent from the field, also the highest in the NBA this season. The Utah Jazz had the previous high of 65.6 percent against Milwaukee on Jan. 8.

"It's a crazy game," Fitch said. ``The shots we made tonight were tougher than the ones we missed. Somewhere during the first quarter we started to force some turnovers, which allowed us to get out running. Then it went our way."

And then some.

The Clippers' previous club record of 146 points was set on Apr. 14, 1984 against Utah and tied on Apr. 12, 1991 against Denver.

After dropping the previous four games by an average margin of 20.3 points and surrendering an average of 65 first-half points during that span, the Raptors never got closer than 26 points in the fourth quarter and fell behind by as many as 36.

Little used center Keith Closs played only seven minutes, but scored the club record-tying basket with a 19-footer that made it 146-111. Pooh Richardson, who plays even less than Closs, got the record-breaker on a 3-pointer with 2:14 to play.

"It's absolutely embarrassing," Toronto guard Doug Christie said. ``We know what we have to do, but none of it was executed out on the court. We work hard in practice, but none of it showed out there."

Coming off consecutive 20-point losses to the Suns and Lakers, the Clippers set a franchise mark with thir 69.3 percent shooting from the field. Their 61 field goals made came within one of the franchise record set by the then-Buffalo Braves.

"That's the thing about this league - you always get a chance to redeem yourself," Clippers center Isaac Austin said. "That's what you've got to do - bounce back from blowouts like that."

The Clippers, who twice this season scored as few as 74 points in home losses to Portland and Atlanta, shot 69 percent from the field en route to a 74-56 halftime lead.

And they did it without the benefit of a visual shot clock at their end of the court - the same problem the Raptors had in the second half. The p.a. announcer was instructed by the referees to announce how much time was left in 10-second intervals.

Rookie Maurice Taylor was 7-for-8 off the bench in the first half, helping Los Angeles build a 20-point lead with 4½ minutes left in the half and offsetting an 11-point second quarter by reserve guard Dee Brown.

"It was an old-fashioned butt-kicking," Brown said after playing his 11th game with Toronto. "We need to analyze this and adjust, or this will happen to us every night."

Eric Piatkowski capped a 12-point first quarter with a buzzer-beater from behind the arc, capping a 14-3 run and giving Los Angeles a 39-26 lead. The Clippers' point total was five more than they had in the entire first half of Thursday night's 108-85 loss to the Lakers, and marked the fifth straight game in which the Raptors surrendered at least 35 points in one quarter.

Notes: Toronto was outrebounded for the 15th consecutive time. ... One night after drawing a sellout crowd of 18,521 to Anaheim Arena for their loss to the Lakers -- a Southern California record for an NBA game -- the Clippers returned to the dingy Sports Arena and played in front of an alleged turnout of 6,152. ... Camby sat out the game after straining his left abductor muscle Tuesday night at Seattle. Slater started at forward in Camby's place, forcing the Raptors to use their 20th different starting lineup. ... The Raptors are 0-18 when Camby has either missed a game or left one prematurely due to injury. When he's played at least 30 minutes, they are 12-18.