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Mobley, Brand lead Clippers past Bulls

Mar 21, 2007 - 5:29 AM CHICAGO (Ticker) -- Cuttino Mobley and the Los Angeles Clippers continue to pump life into their postseason hopes.

Mobley scored 25 points and Elton Brand collected 21 and 12 rebounds for the Clippers in a 103-89 victory over the Chicago Bulls.

Despite the win, the Clippers (31-36) still trail eight-place Golden State (32-37) in percentage points for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference standings.

"At this point they are all huge for us right now. With being on a six-game road trip it gives us a chance to be three and three which would be an excellent trip," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said.

Los Angeles broke a 78-78 tie in the fourth quarter with a 12-6 surge capped by consecutive jumpers from Brand and Daniel Ewing at the 3:11 mark.

"We moved the ball well, it's hard to guard all of us when we do that," Mobley said. "With Elton and Corey (Maggette) and the other guys we have some scoring out there, I am happy with how we are playing now."

After Chicago's Ben Wallace split a pair of three throws, Ewing drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give Los Angeles a 93-85 advantage with 1:17 remaining.

Los Angeles improved to 2-3 on its six-game East Coast swing.

"We deserved to win this game," Brand said. "We played well at Houston and New Jersey and didn't win so the trip has been disappointing. We stepped up and played some good defense."

Maggette scored 22 points and Ewing chipped in 11 off the bench for the Clippers, who 51 percent (32-63) from the floor and survived 17 turnovers.

Kirk Hinrich scored 29 points and Wallace had a season high-tying 19 and 16 boards for Chicago, which has lost two straight following a four-game winning streak.

"For most of the game we got out-executed," Hinrich said. "They played well but we had our chances. We were right there and just didn't execute."

"They played better than us in a lot of facets of the game," Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. "It appeared they wanted it more than we did. As a result they got a win they deserved."