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Maggette leads balanced attack as Clippers edge Wizards

Mar 25, 2007 - 6:49 AM LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- Corey Maggette and the Los Angeles Clippers are coming on strong at the right time.

Maggette scored 29 points to lead five players in double figures as the Clippers pushed their winning streak to four games with a 111-105 triumph over the Washington Wizards.

Elton Brand had 18 points and 14 rebounds and Chris Kaman added 17 and nine for Los Angeles (34-36), which has a one-game lead over idle Golden State (33-37) for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

"Every game is important now," Brand said. "We don't want to have to watch the standings but we have to. We have to see what the other teams are doing, but we have to take care of what we need to do."

Also, the Clippers are just 1 1/2 games from catching the Denver Nuggets (34-33) for seventh place with 12 games remaining on the schedule.

"All these games are so important to us right now," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. In the fourth quarter, Tim Thomas drained a 3-pointer and Daniel Ewing added a 19-footer to help the Clippers build an 84-74 edge with 10:07 remaining.

"I think our guys have gained some confidence back and playing with an urgency, knowing what has to be done," Dunleavy said. "You do those things and good things will happen."

Gilbert Arenas' jumper at the 5:16 mark pulled Washington within 87-85. But Los Angeles answered with an 8-2 run behind Kaman's five points during the run.

"I just tried to come out and be patient in the second half and play aggressive," Kaman said. "I was able to play well. I wish I could play a whole game like that one time. I have been inconsistent."

"I felt like we had to get some production at the position," Dunleavy said. "I was trying to get a couple set plays to him (Kaman) and he delivered for us."

The Wizards were able to make it a two-point game at 105-103, but Maggette and Thomas both sank a pair of free throws to seal the victory.

"It's beautiful when you aren't even nervous about anything," Los Angeles guard Cuttino Mobley said. "You know one of us is going to pull through. If they stop one of us, another one of us is going to get it done."

Arenas netted 30 points and Antawn Jamison had 23 and 10 boards for Washington (37-31), which stayed one-half game in front of Miami (37-32) in the Southeast Division. The Heat lost to the 76ers earlier.

"We competed for 48 minutes, proud of that," Wizards coach Eddie Jordan said. "There were crucial plays or rebounds that we didn't get. We got looks some of them tougher than other. You have to give the Clippers credit."

In the third period, Washington lost starting forward Andray Blatche to a right knee injury at the 6:23 mark after he came down awkward with a defensive rebound.

"I don't know how serious it is," Jordan said. "We are looking at getting him an MRI on Monday, but I don't want to speculate."