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Maggette, Kaman lead Clippers to dominating win over Kings

Jan 24, 2008 - 7:21 AM By Jonathan Raber PA SportsTicker Contributing Writer

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Sacramento Kings were finally healthy and playing their best ball to date. The Los Angeles Clippers didn't care.

Corey Maggette scored 21 points and Chris Kaman finished with 20 and 21 rebounds to propel the Clippers to a 111-85 victory over the Kings on Wednesday.

Rookie Al Thornton finished with 23 points and nine rebounds off the bench and Tim Thomas added 17 points as five players reached double-figures in scoring for the Clippers.

"I thought our guys moved the ball well, we got into the open court and scored," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Al gave us a big lift off the bench."

For Kaman, it was the fifth 20-point, 20-rebound game of his career. He had nine rebounds in the game's opening six minutes and a double-double of 11 points and 16 rebounds by halftime with the Clippers nursing a one-point advantage.

"I play hard every game, I'm always going to try to rebound and block shots, the scoring just comes with my teammates finding me in a good position and being unselfish and I've got to do the same for them," Kaman said.

Los Angeles built up its first double-digit lead at 69-57 in the third quarter after Maggette nailed a three-pointer at the 5:15 mark.

After forging that 12-point lead in the third quarter as the Kings scored just 15 points in the period, the Clippers found an extra gear in the fourth to put the game out of reach.

"This team has jumped us every time we've played them," Kings coach Reggie Theus said. "They play well against us, and we don't play well against them, for whatever reason."

After a 15-5 run to start the final period, the Clippers used Cuttino Mobley's two free throws put them ahead 91-69 with 6:59 remaining. The Kings struggled during that stretch, making just 1-of-6 attempts from the floor.

"That is the way we have to play," Thomas said of the Clippers' 30 assists. "The times when we play that way, we can play with anybody. When we try and do it by ourselves, that is when we get in trouble."

The Kings had won a season-high three straight games and were coming off their biggest win of the season, a 128-94 victory over the New Jersey Nets on Tuesday.

That game marked the first time this season that Sacramento took the floor with a healthy starting lineup with Mike Bibby, Ron Artest and Kevin Martin all returned from injuries.

The top three scorers for Sacramento last season, the trio didn't have much of an impact against the Clippers on Wednesday.

"We just have to get our chemistry going again," Kings forward Mikki Moore said. "We need to start finding out what we have to do to win games."

Bibby scored 16 points on 6-of-14 shooting from the field and Artest and Martin combined for 19 points on 7-of-23 shooting for Sacramento, which had trouble taking care of the ball - committing 21 turnovers, which led to 33 points.

"You turn the ball over 21 times for 33 points, on the road you can't survive that," Theus said.