Elton Brand scored 26 points and grabbed 13 rebounds and Quentin Richardson added 20 points to lead the Clippers to their fourth straight home victory, 101-85 over the Sacramento Kings.
Richardson drilled 5-of-8 3-pointers and Jeff McInnis scored 11 of his 16 points in the fourth quarter as Los Angeles matched a season high with its third straight win. It leads the NBA with 14 home victories.
"We did seem to have more energy," Brand said. "We're at home and the crowd was really with us. We got some easy transition jumpers. It's a nice win. They are above us in the standings and it's great for morale that we beat a solid club."
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from Kings-Clippers: 56k | 300k  Corey Maggette and the Clips are soaring. Robert Mora NBAE/Getty Images |
Doug Christie and Bobby Jackson scored 19 points apiece for Sacramento, which has lost four of its last five games and four straight on the road.
"We played a poor game," Kings coach Rick Adelman said. "We did not do anything we had to do. We did not defend and we had no offense."
"It's been like this the last three or four games on the road," Jackson added. "In the second half, we just didn't know what we were doing."
The Kings played without All-Star forward Chris Webber, who missed his second consecutive game due to left ankle tendinitis. Webber also sat out the season's first 20 games with a sprained left ankle.
"We knew Chris Webber was missing and we tried to take advantage of that," Brand said. "They played well without him."
Vlade Divac had 12 points and 12 rebounds for Sacramento before picking up two technical fouls in a 2:54 span of the fourth quarter.
"I think we need to get back to the game we were playing before," Divac said. "We need to get back to defense. We are one of the best offensive teams, but offense does not win games."
McInnis' jumper with 11:33 left in the third quarter snapped a 49-49 tie and put Los Angeles ahead for good.
The Clippers started the fourth quarter with an 11-6 run and opened an 82-71 lead on a jumper by McInnis with 8:36 to play.
Peja Stojakovic's 3-pointer cut Sacramento's deficit to nine points with 4:46 left, but Richardson made a pair from beyond the arc and McInnis sank a free throw after Divac was ejected to give Los Angeles a 96-80 cushion with 3:21 to go.
"We're rolling right now and they didn't have Webber," McInnis said. "Everytime we got the ball, we wanted to run and push it up the floor. They were upset about a lot of calls and got out of their game a little bit, and we just kept running and running."
The Clippers never trailed after Richardson's 3-pointer with 11 seconds to go in the second quarter, taking a 49-48 lead into the locker room.
"I just had to knock them down," Richardson said of his long-range shooting. "I missed my first one, but I kept shooting."
Michael Olowokandi had a season-high 13 points and 11 rebounds, Darius Miles grabbed 11 boards and Lamar Odom contributed eight assists and seven rebounds for the Clippers, who shot 46.5 percent (40-of-86) from the field and outrebounded the Kings, 53-43.
Olowokandi did most of his damage in the first quarter, scoring 10 points and pulling down seven rebounds.
"Mike got us off to a good start," Los Angeles coach Alvin Gentry said. "He did a great job of being active. I thought he did a great job of being under control and going at Vlade."
Lawrence Funderburke scored 10 points and Hedo Turkoglu chipped in eight as Sacramento shot 41 percent (36-of-87), making just 4-of-15 (27 percent) from long range.
Stojakovic, who leads the Kings at more than 20 points per game, was held to seven on 3-of-16 shooting.
"I can't say why (I shot poorly)," he said. "If I knew why, I would have changed it at halftime. It just happens. It was one of those nights. I know we're going to have off nights, we just have to forget it and come back next game. It's a long season, especially without Chris. It feels strange with Chris out so much."
Stojakovic's teammates refused to use Webber's absence as an excuse.
"When he was out the first 20 games, we were 15-5," Jackson said. "We can rebound. We just have to put our minds to it. It's a whole mental thing. We've got to pay attention. They killed us in the second half getting those offensive rebounds."
The Clippers outscored the Kings, 50-38, in the paint and 19-8 in second-chance points.