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Brand, Maggette help Clippers crush Jazz

Mar 24, 2007 - 6:39 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Elton Brand helped the Los Angeles Clippers finally get past the Utah Jazz.

Brand scored 20 points and grabbed 11 rebounds and Corey Maggette had 19 and five as the Clippers hammered the Jazz, 104-72, for their largest margin of victory this season.

Cuttino Mobley had 15 points and Chris Kaman added 10 and 14 rebounds for Los Angeles (33-36), which remains one-half game in front of the Golden State Warriors (33-37) for the eighth spot in the Western Conference.

"I'm really pleased with the performance tonight," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Coming in tonight and getting this type of win here at home is a real boost momentum wise."

"We're just moving the ball well, playing like a team," Mobley said. "It's the right time to be jelling as a team. We have to continue doing what we are doing."

Golden State defeated the Washington Wizards, 135-128, Friday night.

It was the Clippers' first win of the season vs. the Jazz after losing three in a row. Los Angeles dominated many statistical categories, including outrebounding Utah, 45-34, handing out more assists, 32-19, and forcing 18 Jazz turnovers to only 13 for the Clippers.

"The Jazz were missing shots and we were executing and distributing the ball well," Maggette said. "It was just a great all-around effort from the whole team."

Brand shot 9-of-13 from the field for Los Angeles, which led by eight points after the first quarter, 17 at halftime and 28 after three periods.

Carlos Boozer scored 13 points and hauled in nine rebounds and Andrei Kirilenko added 12 points and two blocks for Utah (44-24), which scored a season low in points and is only a half-game in front of idle Houston for the fourth spot in the West.

"We really wanted to box out guys like Boozer and Kirilenko," Brand said. "They have size and length and they hit the offensive boards. Utah runs their sets so well, we were trying to limit their layups and easy shots."

Rookie Paul Millsap added nine points and seven rebounds but made just 5-of-14 free throws for the Jazz, who missed a total of 20 (17-of-37) from the charity stripe.

"You have to give L.A. a lot of credit," Jazz coach Jerry Sloan said. "They took us out of our offense. They knew everything we were going to do on the floor and we did not react to any of it. They were more determined to win a ballgame from the beginning."