Clippers win first playoff series in 30 years

LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The Clippers were a happy bunch after putting

an end to a 30-year drought.

Daily Dime

No single celebratory chant took hold, even as the lead zoomed up to 25 points. You heard a few soft murmurs of "Lakers Suck, Lakers Suck" . . . but you really had to be listening for it. Another pocket of fans then tried to get a "Beat L.A." thing going, which common sense quickly drowned out. Not that Clipper Nation can be faulted. To read more of Marc Stein's analysis in Monday night's Daily Dime, click here.

But there was a limit to their joy, since they believe there's a

lot more they can accomplish.

Cuttino Mobley and Corey Maggette each scored 23 points, Elton

Brand added 21 points and 13 rebounds, and the Clippers took

command in the third quarter to beat the Denver Nuggets 101-83

Monday night and win the first-round best-of-seven Western

Conference series 4-1.

Mobley pumped his fists repeatedly in the final minute, and his

teammates waved at the Staples Center fans, who stood and cheered

as the final seconds ticked off.

"We've got to keep winning," Mobley said afterward in a

somewhat subdued locker room.

"I saw what we had in training camp," fellow newcomer Sam

Cassell said. "This team was in a lot of games last year. They

just didn't have guys to finish games."

They do now, in the veteran backcourt combo of Mobley and

Cassell, but finishing wasn't an issue in the series finale.

The Clippers hadn't won a playoff series since 1976, when the

team was playing in Buffalo and beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the

opening round before losing to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern

Conference semifinals.

The franchise moved to San Diego in 1978, then to Los Angeles in

1984. The Clippers are in the playoffs for just the seventh time in

their 36-year history, only the fourth time since heading west, and

the first time in nine years.

The four wins in these playoffs matched the total for the

Clippers in their previous playoff appearances while playing in Los

Angeles. The franchise was 13-22 in the postseason entering these

playoffs, including 9-13 while playing in Buffalo.

"For the organization, it's a tremendous accomplishment," said

third-year coach Mike Dunleavy. "It's been a long time since this

has happened. But for me, it's the vision I had. My philosophy

through it all is you have to defend to be good."

And defend the Clippers did, holding the Nuggets under 40

percent from the floor in four of the five games in this series.

"It's just a great feeling," said Brand, who played in 544

regular-season games before making his playoff debut April 22.

"It's still kind of surreal. I might not appreciate it until we

start the second round."

The Clippers meet the winner of the Lakers-Suns series. The

Lakers take a 3-1 lead into Tuesday night's game in Phoenix.

Should the Clippers face the Lakers, it would be the first

postseason meeting ever between Los Angeles teams in the NBA, NFL

or major league baseball.

Cassell was one Clipper who made it clear who he'd like to face

next.

"I was always a Laker fan -- Magic Johnson, James Worthy, my

main man Norm Nixon," Cassell said. "Kobe Bryant's my favorite

player. It would be the battle of Hollywood -- it would be great for

the city."

Cassell and Chris Kaman scored 10 points apiece and Shaun

Livingston had eight points and 14 assists for the Clippers.

Maggette, Brand, Kaman and Livingston are making their postseason

debuts this spring.

Carmelo Anthony scored 23 points, Greg Buckner added 20 and

Andre Miller had 15 points, six rebounds and eight assists for the

Nuggets, who went 1-16 this season when scoring less than 90

points.

"We definitely kept him in check," Brand said of Anthony, who

shot 8-of-24 Monday night.

The Nuggets were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs

for the third straight year.

"This one hurts worse than the other two," Anthony said. "We

have issues. I saw guys who did not want to be here and play in

this game. We did not play playoff basketball in this series.

"I don't want to be like Kevin Garnett and take eight years to

get out of the first round."

The Nuggets haven't won a playoff series since 1994.

"It's definitely disappointing and frustrating not to get out

of the first round," said Denver's Marcus Camby, who had six

points and 11 rebounds. "We had dreams of winning the

championship."

The Nuggets shot 6-of-9 to start the third quarter while

outscoring the Clippers 14-9 to draw within one point.

But that's as close as the Nuggets would get.

Maggette and Brand each scored six points and Mobley added four

in a 20-3 run to finish the third period and start the fourth,

giving the Clippers a 75-57 lead. The Nuggets shot 1-of-12 during

the spurt.

The Clippers led by as many as 25 points in the final period.

The Clippers outscored the Nuggets 17-8 to finish the second

quarter for a 46-40 halftime lead, and they were on top the rest of

the way.Game notes
Clippers C Zeljko Rebraca was inactive for the game after

feeling chest pains during warmups. He missed 50 games while

playing for Detroit in the 2002-03 season because of an irregular

heartbeat, and 24 earlier this season for the same reason. He said

he wasn't concerned, adding: "Everything is under control." ...

Brand, who scored all but three of his points in the second half,

was presented with the Joe Dumars Trophy as the NBA Sportsmanship

Award winner before the game. ... Denver's Reggie Evans was fined

$10,000 and assessed a flagrant foul penalty two for what the NBA

called "unnecessary and excessive conduct" with Kaman in Saturday

night's game. ... The Nuggets averaged 100.3 points per game during

the regular season, but only 87.4 in this series.