Brand and Clippers down Sacramento

"It’s been awhile since we beat these guys," LA coach Mike Dunleavy said. "At halftime, we talked about making adjustments. Our offense had a good flow to the game. Our energy was good tonight. We had good play across the board."

Corey Maggette scored 21 points for the Clippers, who won their second straight. Cuttino Mobley scored 17 points, while Chris Kaman posted 14 points and eight rebounds.

Mike Bibby scored 26 points for the Kings, who had a two-game winning streak snapped. Brad Miller scored 15 points and Kevin Martin added 14.

LA edged a 25-24 first-quarter lead, and kept its one-point lead at halftime after both teams scored 21 in the second.

The Clippers went on an 19-8 run down the third-quarter stretch capped by a pair of James Singleton free throws with 1:23 left, and led 80-69 heading into the final stanza.

Bibby scored seven straight points to pull Sacramento within seven with 3:25 remaining in the fourth. The Kings managed to trim just two points off their deficit in the fourth, however, as they failed to uphold their dominant streak against LA.

"We got on a roll and followed Elton Brand," LA’s Shaun Livingston said. "We played good defense. We didn’t let them dictate the game tonight. It’s good to get the monkey off our back."

Game Notes

Sacramento has won 19 of the last 21 meetings in this series. The previous time the Clippers defeated the Kings was on January 18, 2003 at home...The Kings have won eight of their last 10 at the Clippers...This was the second meeting of the season between the Pacific Division rivals. On November 28th, Ron Artest scored 28 points and pulled down eight rebounds, as the Kings knocked off the Clippers, 93-80, in Sacramento.