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Sunday, Jan. 7 9:30pm ET
Clippers end 16-game skid vs. Lakers

RECAP | BOX SCORE | GAME FLOW

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- This time, the Los Angeles Clippers were for real.

After giving the Lakers a scare in three previous games, the Clippers beat their Staples Center roommates 118-95 Sunday night for the first time in nearly four years.

Michael Olowokandi
The Clippers' Michael Olowokandi collects a second-quarter rebound before crashing into teammate Lamar Odom.

"So far, it's the biggest game of the year for us," said Lamar Odom, who scored a season-high 29 points.

The Clippers got big efforts from reserves Cherokee Parks (13 points), Earl Boykins (11 in his first game of the season), and Eric Piatkowski (10).

"It's not a big deal where guys need to be jumping up and down and acting like we won a world championship," Piatkowski said. "We're supposed to win games like this. We have the talent on this team now to win games."

The Clippers outshot and outrebounded the defending NBA champions to end a 16-game losing streak against the Lakers. Their last win over the Lakers was on March 14, 1997, at the Forum.

"We are excited about beating them, but it still only counts for one win," first-year Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. "It gives us a little credibility and it gives us something to build on."

The Clippers had lost their other three meetings with the Lakers, including an overtime defeat Dec. 30, but this time they didn't stumble even when the Lakers got within eight points with 5:31 remaining.

"The difference this time was defense and bracing ourselves for when they made their run," Odom said. "Hopefully, this is the start of a new beginning for us."

Robert Horry stripped the ball from Corey Maggette and whipped a pass into Shaquille O'Neal, who dunked after missing two free throws on his previous possession, to make it 100-92.

But the Clippers scored the next eight points and quickly put the game out of reach to snap a two-game losing skid.

"For a stretch, they looked like the old Clippers," Horry said. "They threw one out of bounds, they threw a couple bad passes, but they shook that off and came back and held us off. That's the sign of a team maturing. I think they're going to be pretty good."

The Lakers had won three straight and eight of their last nine, but they were clearly lethargic against one of the league's youngest teams. The Clippers shot 56 percent and controlled the boards, 47-33.

"They got us good," Lakers coach Phil Jackson said. "They outplayed us in almost every aspect of the game. The shooting was great, their bench was terrific; we couldn't stop anybody off their bench."

O'Neal and Kobe Bryant were a two-man show for the Lakers. O'Neal had 33 points and 20 rebounds despite fouling out for the second straight time against the Clippers and third game in a row, while Bryant had 27 points.

"We played Shaq with a couple fouls and I think it inhibited his defensive aggressiveness. He got a couple of ticky-tack fouls," Jackson said. "His third foul was kind of questionable, but it put us in a defensive stance and we played a defensive game instead of aggressive."

The Lakers shot 43 percent and O'Neal was just 9-for-20 from the line after improving to 33-for-75 in his previous five games.

"They won a game," O'Neal said. "I'm not impressed by that. They played great ball. You know, we played awful ball. Usually when we play awful ball against this team, we still can beat them. They played great, but I'm not impressed."

The Clippers stretched a seven-point halftime lead into a 17-point bulge with a 20-10 run that opened the third quarter. Quentin Richardson scored off a steal, Odom beat the shot clock with a 3-pointer and Richardson added a 3-pointer for a 74-57 lead with 5:52 remaining.

After that, the Lakers made just one basket the rest of the quarter, but hit 13 of 15 free throws with O'Neal on the bench with five fouls and trailed 88-73 going into the fourth quarter.

Game notes
The Clippers placed G Keyon Dooling on the injured list with viral syndrome and activated Boykins, who was on the IL with a bruised left knee. ... The Lakers still won the season series 3-1. ... The Clippers' bench is the best in the league. Coming into the game, it was outscoring opponents' reserves by 15 points a game. ... Bryant was a rookie the last time the Lakers lost to the Clippers. Piatkowski is the only holdover from that team.
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