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Clippers hope to earn playoff spot in season finale

Apr 18, 2007 - 3:15 PM New Orleans (38-43) at LA Clippers (40-41) 10:30 pm EDT

LOS ANGELES (Ticker) -- The Los Angeles Clippers will need some help if they are going to make the postseason for the second straight season.

The Clippers hope to secure the Western Conference's final playoff spot Wednesday when they meet the New Orleans Hornets in the regular-season finale both teams.

Los Angeles enters the matchup one-game behind the Golden State Warriors (40-41) for the eighth and final postseason. But Los Angeles holds the tiebreaker.

If the Clippers win this contest, they will need Golden State to lose at Portland on Wednesday.

"We still have an outside chance and we have to depend on others," Clippers forward Elton Brand said. "All in all it is disappointing that it has to come down to this."

If the Clippers fail to clinch a postseason berth, some of that blame can go to their 105-100 defeat to lowly Sacramento on Sunday.

"The only game that we have probably had in the last 17 that mentally we didn't have it or that there was something missing was Sunday against Sacramento," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "Every other game has been like this game, come down to a last possession and the guys played their hearts out and those results are really good for us. I was so shocked about Sunday. I don't know where that came from. I didn't think our guys had it in them."

Brand collected 21 points and nine rebounds as Los Angeles bounce back to post an impressive 103-99 over the second-seed Phoenix Suns on Tuesday.

With their postseason hopes crushed mostly to injuries, the Hornets snapped their two-game slide with Monday's 125-118 triumph at Sacramento.

David West scored 25 points and Chris Paul had 23 and 12 assists for the Hornets, who posted a 103-100 overtime victory over the Clippers on April 10.