Chris Kaman scored 20 points and ripped down 21 rebounds, as the Los Angeles Clippers stomped the Sacramento Kings, 111-85.
Al Thornton added 23 points and nine boards off the bench for the Clippers, who had dropped six of eight entering the game. Corey Maggette had 21 points, and Tim Thomas finished with 17 points for the Clippers.
Mike Bibby scored 16 points for the Kings, who had won three in a row and six of eight entering play. Brad Miller had 15 points and 12 rebounds, and Kevin Martin added 11 points for LA.
The Clippers pulled away early in the third quarter. After a Mikki Moore tip- in gave the Kings a short-lived 51-50 lead, a layup by Chris Kaman kicked off a 19-6 stretch. Corey Maggette scored 11 points on the run, which he capped with a three- pointer that boosted the Clips to a 69-57 lead with 5:15 remaining.
LA led 76-64 at the end of three quarters.
The Clippers pushed their lead to 20 points early in the fourth quarter and never looked back. Back-to-back baskets by Thomas, the second a driving dunk, pushed LA ahead 87-67 with 8:34 to play.
"They play well against us and we don't play well against them," said Kings head coach Reggie Theus. "They were very active tonight. They had livelier legs than we did. We just played poor."
Kaman scored eight points in the first quarter, including a turnaround jumper in the final two seconds and the Los Angeles Clippers took a 22-19 lead into the second quarter.
"Chris is a great kid, he works so hard," said Clippers head coach Mike Dunleavy. "We had great ball movement tonight, and that was the key."
Thornton heated up in the second quarter for LA, pouring in 12 points in the quarter, capped by a floater with 42 seconds left that gave the Clippers a 50-49 lead at the break.
Game Notes
It was the Clippers' largest margin of victory this season...Sacramento had won seven of its last eight at the Clippers. LA has won four of the last five contests in the series, though.
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