DENVER, April 12 (Ticker) -- It has been a while since the Los Angeles Clippers enjoyed a win this easy.

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Rookie Marko Jaric scored 17 points as the Clippers bolted to an early lead and cruised to an 101-79 victory over the Denver Nuggets in a matchup of the worst teams in the Western Conference.

Los Angeles ended a nine-game road losing streak with their most lopsided win in over a year. Before Saturday, the Clippers' largest margin of victory this season had been 19 points at Miami on November 12.

En route to its first win of more than 20 points since a 97-75 home triumph over Denver on April 7, 2002, Los Angeles took a 30-16 lead after the first quarter and used an 11-0 spurt to build a 41-16 advantage midway through the second.

"A win can cure a lot for a little while," Clippers coach Dennis Johnson said. "We came out from the start and played well. It was a big game for us to win. Our first group passed the ball and rebounded very well. It feels good to win and our guys played really well. You do not want your guys to quit on you."

In their first road win since March 8 at Chicago and second under Johnson, the Clippers shot 52 percent (12-of-23) in the opening 12 minutes, 51 percent in the first half and took a 55-34 cushion into the locker room.

Los Angeles, which is 20-16 when leading through three quarters, took 73-54 lead into the final period. The Clippers had their lead sliced to 75-60 when Denver rookie Nikoloz Tskitishvili hit a jumper with 9:38 remaining.

But Jaric, who scored 12 points in the final period, had three baskets over the next four minutes that rebuilt the lead to 90-63 and put the game out of reach.

"We are trying to win whatever games we can and finish out the season strong," Los Angeles guard Corey Maggette said. "I got a little nervous in the fourth quarter when the Nuggets made a run and got it to 15 points. Jaric hit some big shots and he got the lead back to 21. He shot the ball really well tonight."

"I probably should not say this, but some guys played exceptionally hard for the Clippers," Nuggets coach Jeff Bzdelik said. "Some of the guys probably played harder than they had played all season long."

Denver's latest losing streak reached six games. But the Nuggets (17-63) moved within one game of Cleveland for the NBA's worst record, which would give them a 25 percent chance of getting the top overall pick in the June draft.

The Nuggets have had seven losing streaks of at least five games, including skids of 14 and 10. Denver's lone bright spot was Jeff Trepagnier, who scored 15 points in 27 minutes as its last player off the bench.

The Nuggets' starting lineup combined for just 40 points on 18-of-47 from the field. Rookie Nene Hilario did not dress due to a lower back strain, Juwan Howard tweaked his ankle and Marcus Camby did not play in the second half after feeling ill.

Andre Miller added 16 points and Maggette chipped in 14 for the Clippers, who shot under 46 percent (41-of-90) and outrebounded the Nuggets, 60-50.