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Nuggets-Clippers: 56k | 300k  |
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The game was delayed for more than five minutes at the outset with the STAPLES Center crowd watching President Bush's national address concerning military action in Iraq.
In support of United States armed forces in the Middle East, Richardson and rookie forward Chris Wilcox wore red, white and blue headbands during the game instead of their normal white ones.
"We usually get white ones when we're at home, but our locker room guy Pete put out the red ones with what's going on, and I'm 100 percent behind them," Richardson said.
Richardson also found another way to pay tribute to American troops with a salute following a driving dunk late in the second quarter.
"That was a shout-out to the people that are out there fighting," he said.
In a matchup of the two worst teams in the West, the Clippers (22-46) led virtually the entire way in beating the Nuggets (14-54) for the second time in three tries this season.
Wang, who had played a total of 11 minutes over his last seven games and scored in double figures in just two of 30 games this season, got a chance to showcase his talents against the Nuggets by playing 25 minutes, one shy of his season high.
The Chinese 7-footer responded to the extra playing time, making 9-of-12 shots and surpassing his previous high of 18 points set last season with Dallas.
"I wanted to play hard and coach gave me some encouragement," Wang said. "I want my team to play good, play together."
The Clippers took the lead for good at 23-22 with 9:53 left in the second quarter on a three-pointer by Wang.
Wang scored 11 points in the second quarter, including nine in a 15-6 surge to start the period, giving the Clippers a 33-28 lead. They held a seven-point lead at the break.
A dunk by rookie Nene Hilario pulled the Nuggets within 44-40 early in the third quarter before the Clippers responded with a 13-2 run tht featured five points by Lamar Odom to open a 57-42 bulge with 5:37 left in period.
"The big challenge was to come out after halftime and continue what were doing," Clippers coach Dennis Johnson said. "They did that. The first five minutes of the third quarter are very important. You need to come out and be a really aggressive team. We're learning to do that."
Odom said he feels more pressure to perform during wartime.
"It feels like you have to put on a show if you're a showman or entertainer," he said. "Especially tonight, I wanted to come out here, play a great game, be focused and win for the fans."
Odom and rookie Marko Jaric each scored 13 points and Andre Miller added 12 for the Clippers, who shot 40 percent (34-of-85) and held a 44-41 rebounding advantage.
The Clippers held a 66-54 advantage after three quarters and slowly pulled away over the final 12 minutes, leading by as many as 17 points.
Juwan Howard netted 24 points and rookie Rodney White 10 for Denver, which shot 41 percent (31-of-76) and made just 12-of-22 free throws. The Nuggets also committed 18 turnovers as they lost for the 18th time in their last 20 games.
"Once again it's our inability to shoot the basketball from the floor to the free throw line," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. We yielded 22 points off 18 turnovers. We need to make good judgments this summer and give our young guys time to develop and get better as players."