NBA Game Summary - LA Clippers at Utah

Salt Lake City, UT (Basketball News) - Keith McLeod scored 12 of his game-high 18 points on free throws, and the Utah Jazz held on for an 87-86 victory over the Los Angeles Clippers at the Delta Center.

McLeod made his first 12 from the line before missing two with 6.5 seconds remaining in the game. That left the Clippers with a chance to win it, but Bobby Simmons couldn’t convert a layup at the buzzer after a nice pass inside from teammate Rick Brunson.

McLeod’s 12 free throws made were a career-high, as were his 14 attempts. Raja Bell added 14 points and Andrei Kirilenko and Mehmet Okur scored 11 apiece for the Jazz, who won for just the fourth time in their last 13 games.

"We’ve got a really good team, it’s just been a question of if we’re going to play harder than the other team," Bell said. "I think we did that tonight."

Simmons scored 17 points to lead the Clippers, who had a two game winning streak snapped. LA has lost five straight and 31 of its last 32 games in Utah.

"I honestly thought we were going to come in here and win," said Brunson. "It’s hard to win here...they got all calls."

Corey Maggette added 16 points in defeat, Zeljko Rebraca scored 12 and Elton Brand collected 10 points and eight rebounds.

Okur provided the Jazz with a little breathing room late when he completed a three-point play to make it 85-81 with 21.7 seconds remaining. His fade-away in the lane followed two consecutive Utah offensive rebounds, and a foul was called despite little contact on the play.

Maggette hit a tough jumper at the other end to get the Clippers within 85-83 before McLeod hit his 11th and 12th free throws to make it a four-point game again with 11.6 seconds left.

Simmons then nailed a three-pointer with 7.1 seconds remaining, and LA was within one. McLeod’s missed followed, but Simmons’ attempt in the lane hit off the front of the rim as time expired.

McLeod’s misses were the only misses from the charity stripe for Utah, which ended 23-of-25.

The Clippers have now lost nine straight and 15 of their last 16 games on the road.

Utah head coach Jerry Sloan picked up his 936th win, passing Dick Motta for seventh on the NBA’s all-time list.

The teams shot an identical 16-of-35 (46 percent) in the first half and Los Angeles carried a 44-43 lead into the break. The Clippers maintained that one- point advantage and led 67-66 heading into the fourth quarter.