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RECAP
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BOX SCORE
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GAME FLOW
LOS ANGELES (AP) – The Los Angeles Clippers had everything going their way Tuesday night. Lamar Odom was back from a league-imposed five-game suspension and Philadelphia was missing its coach and the NBA's leading scorer.
|  | | Michael Olowokandi, left, scored 12 points and pulled down 12 rebounds for the Clips. |
Odom had been banished for violating the NBA's anti-drug policy
and Los Angeles went 1-4 in his absence. But all that was forgotten
after Odom got 25 points and six assists in an 88-77 victory -- the
Clippers' seventh straight home victory over the 76ers.
"It was kind of immature," the second-year forward said of his suspension. "It was a 21-year-old's mistake. It shouldn't have happened. And hopefully, God willing, it'll never happen again. I'll never miss another game because of a suspension or anything like that again.
"You have to kind of meet the league halfway, but I didn't, so
I was suspended. It was my fault. Now I'm doing what I have to do
with the NBA and with myself, so I won't be put in that position
again."
Odom, who has a 3-year-old daughter and was named Clippers co-captain at the start of the season, realizes how much work he has to do to rebuild the tarnished image his situation has created.
"Hopefully, I've touched enough people, and enough people have
been around me to really know me and understand me, and hopefully
not let one mistake knock down everything I've tried to accomplish my first two years here," said Odom, the Clippers' leader in scoring, rebounding, steals and blocked shots per game.
"My position was so different from everyone else's. I didn't
come into the NBA with a halo over my head, and everybody saying,
'He's a good kid.' And I've learned that the way people perceive
you is everything if you want to accomplish what I want to
accomplish -- especially in our business."
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Playing his first game in 15 days, Odom made his first four shots over the opening 16½ minutes. He also had four assists during that stretch, helping Los Angeles take a 32-29 lead.
Odom also contributed a 3-pointer and a three-point play to a 12-4 run that gave the Clippers a 73-62 lead going into the fourth quarter.
"We talked about the emotional lift he was going to give them,
coming back from the suspension," said 76ers assistant coach Randy
Ayres, who has guided the team in the last three games for the
ailing Larry Brown.
"We tried to try to take Odom out of the game. It hurt us when George Lynch got into foul trouble, because he's our key perimeter defender. But give Odom credit. He's one of the up-and-coming stars in the league."
The Sixers, who lead the NBA with a 48-20 record, played their
third straight game without Allen Iverson and his league-leading 31.1 scoring average. They have lost four in a row for the first time since Feb. 16-20, 1999.
The defeat left the Sixers with a 27-4 record against teams with losing records.
Aaron McKie, who has started the last three games at shooting
guard in Iverson's place, led Philadelphia for the third straight
game with 22 points and seven rebounds.
Brown, being treated for a hiatal hernia and acid reflux, is
expected to rejoin the team on Wednesday in Phoenix. But Iverson --
also back in Philadelphia getting treatment for a hip pointer -- has
no timetable for his return.
Trailing by as many as 12 after Jeff McInnis' running jumper
with 4:48 remaining, the 76ers cut the margin to 84-77 on a
3-pointer by Eric Snow and a 15-footer by Dikembe Mutombo with 2:55
to play. But that was as close as they got.
Michael Olowokandi, who had 12 points and 12 rebounds for the
Clippers, rebounded the second of two missed free throws by Odom
and converted the layup. McInnis then launched an alley-oop lob to
rookie Darius Miles, who guided the ball in for the game's final
points.
Game notes
One of the referees working the game was Leon Wood, who played in 67 games for the 76ers over two seasons after
Philadelphia selected him in the first round of the 1984 draft. ...
Philadelphia guard Rodney Buford was 0-for-8 from the field. ... McInnis, who entered the game second in the league behind New York's Mark Jackson with a 3.83 assist-to-turnover ratio, had nine
assists and no turnovers against the Sixers.
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ALSO SEE
NBA Scoreboard
Philadelphia Clubhouse
LA Clippers Clubhouse
RECAPS
New York 110
Cleveland 75
New Jersey 104
Vancouver 90
Toronto 102
Indiana 81
Orlando 103
Chicago 95
Portland 96
Dallas 88
Phoenix 105
Washington 91
Utah 84
Detroit 79
LA Clippers 88
Philadelphia 77
Sacramento 125
Houston 109
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