(Basketball News) - The Los Angeles Clippers lost to the Utah Jazz, 93-91, on Tuesday at the Delta Center.
Corey Maggette poured in a game-high 28 points and Elton Brand added 19 for the Clippers, who have dropped three straight contests.
The Jazz led by one after three quarters, but quickly extended the cushion to five points on Gordan Giricek’s three-pointer with around nine minutes left in the game.
Los Angeles trimmed the deficit to one point at 81-80 on two free throws by Maggette with 4:45 left. The margin was still one late in the game and the Clippers had a chance to take the lead, but Marko Jaric turned the ball over with 1:05 left. Carlos Boozer was then fouled at the other end and gave the Jazz an 88-86 edge as he made 1-of-2 from the stripe with 48 seconds remaining.
On the ensuing possession, Maggette missed a deep three-pointer, but the Clippers kept the ball alive and Chris Kaman was finally fouled with 22.7 seconds left. Kaman, though, missed 1-of-2 and the deficit was one point.
Raja Bell was quickly fouled at the other end and the guard netted both shots to extend the lead to three points. After several misses by LA, Maggette finally got a rebound and laid it in to trim the deficit to 90-89 with 10.1 seconds remaining.
Mehmet Okur was then immediately fouled and made both shots to widen the gap to three, but Mikki Moore’s dunk with four seconds left again cut the lead to one point. Okur was then fouled again and this time made 1-of-2 for a two- point edge. Kaman grabbed the rebound as he missed the second try, but his desperation try was way off the mark.
Maggette has scored 27 or more points in five straight games. He is averaging 32 points and 7.4 rebounds in that span.
The Clippers are off until Friday when they visit Kevin Garnett and the Minnesota Timberwolves. It will be the second meeting of the season between the clubs. On December 4, the Timberwolves knocked off the Clippers, 107-100, in overtime at the Staples Center.
