Clippers are hanging on

Los Angeles goes for its third straight win on Monday as it welcomes the Utah Jazz this afternoon to the Staples Center. The Clippers have won two of the last three meetings in this series. The Jazz have lost two straight and three of their last four at the Clippers.

The Clippers play the fourth of a season-long seven-game homestand against the Jazz. Chris Kaman tied a career-high with 25 points and pulled down 10 rebounds to lead the Clippers to a 98-72 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics on Saturday at the Staples Center.

Veteran Sam Cassell added 24 points and Cuttino Mobley tallied 14 points and eight boards in the win over Seattle for the Clippers, who have posted back- to-back victories for the first time since winning four in a row to start December.

The Clippers played the SuperSonics without forward Elton Brand, who was out of the lineup for a second straight game with a sore right hip. The Duke product is questionable for Monday’s contest. Brand leads the club in scoring (24.9 ppg) and rebounding (10.7 rpg).

Los Angeles, which is 2-1 on the current stand, is 12-5 as the host this season. The Clippers are scheduled to host Steve Nash and the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday, Dirk Nowitzki and the Dallas Mavericks on Friday and Jason Richardson and the Golden State Warriors on Sunday in the finale of the current stand.

Cassell, who is averaging 16.6 points and a team-best 6.6 assists per game, has scored over 20 points in four of his last six contests. The veteran point guard is averaging 15.0 points and 5.2 assists in his last 10 outings.

The Clippers are 10-5 when they score at least 100 points this season.