It was a tale of two halves- the Clippers shot a sizzling 58% in the first half but couldn't make a basket to save their lives in the 2nd. They became tentative, they panicked, and simply were outplayed physically. Maggette returned today and had a nice game but missed a ton of jump shots in the 4th quarter. Simmons was pretty much non-existent tonight, and Jaric, playing with a bad knee, really struggled with only 5 points. The two losses against the Celtics this year have been absolute killer losses. Let's see how the team bounces back from this- they desperately need to reel off 3 or 4 wins in a row if they want to stay in contention for the playoffs.

Brunson, who had 11 assists off the bench, didn't question his decision to shoot for the win instead of the tie because he had an open look.

``I had to make a decision, go inside or take the shot. Unfortunately, it didn't go down,'' he said. ``I'm not scared of taking the shot. I'll be the goat.''

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The Bucks dominated on the boards, which helped prevent the Clippers from building more than an eight point lead. Milwaukee had 50 rebounds -- 19 offensive. The Clippers had 32 rebounds.

``We didn't think we would come here and get crushed on the boards,'' Brand said.

Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy added: ``First off, 19 offensive rebounds was the story of the game.''

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``We played great team defense,'' said Jaric, who had half of the Clippers' 12 steals. ``With guys over there like Stephon, only team defense can contain them.''

Crawford responded with a 3-pointer, Jaric blew an easy layup at the other end, and Crawford's layup cut the margin to 87-86 with 2:03 left. But Ross' clutch shot gave the Clippers a 91-87 lead with 1:03 remaining.

``There wasn't any more time on the clock, so I had to shoot it,'' said Ross, who was 7-for-14. ``I work on that shot every day, so it felt real good leaving my hand. I was just grateful that it went in.''

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Reserve center Zeljko Rebraca made it easy for coach Mike Dunleavy to keep Brand on the bench, scoring 17 of his season-high 19 points in the first half.

``It gave me that luxury. That was very positive for us,'' Dunleavy said. ``Z was going pretty good, so I kept him out there longer than I had to after Elton got those two early ones. I wanted to buy as much time as I could -- but not so much where I broke Elton's rhythm. ``

The Clippers led 36-30 when Brand returned to the floor, and he scored six points in a 1:27 span -- including a 17-footer that capped a 17-6 run.

The Clippers outrebounded Golden State 54-34, including a career-high 16 by Rebraca. The Warriors entered the game allowing a league-worst 46.4 rebounds per game.

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``Disappointing loss for us,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``I thought we did a lot of good things, but we missed a ton of open shots.''

The Blazers, who had lost 13 of their last 16, got great defensive performances from big men Joel Przybilla and Ratliff. Przybilla had 10 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks, and Ratliff had seven blocks.

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``It's a rivalry game. We play in the same arena,'' he said.

Brand, who also played at Duke, laughed when asked if that was a fair comparison.

``It's getting there,'' he said. ``We get a few more victories under our belt, it'll be of that magnitude.''

The win was the second straight for the Clippers (20-22) following a season-high five-game losing streak.

``Our guys have played well, even through the losing streak,'' Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. ``We're hopeful. We're trying to make a push for the playoffs.''

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Simmons, the only player to start all 41 games for the Clippers, powered them to a 53-38 halftime lead with 15 points. They shot 52.6 percent in the half and finished it with a 7-0 spurt while Kaman was on the bench with three fouls.

Jaric had nine points in 23 minutes after missing the Clippers' previous 17 games with a stress fracture in his right foot. He made his first three shots, including consecutive 3-pointers 25 seconds apart to cap a 10-0 run and give Los Angeles a 33-23 lead two minutes into the second quarter.

``I just tried to put a little energy into the team, but my stamina wasn't very good,'' Jaric said. ``I practiced individually the last seven days, but we never had time to practice five-on-five because we had a tough schedule. So, basically, I came straight into the game after being out a month and a half.''

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Jaric, who has been on the injured list since January 8th with a stress fracture in his right foot, has averaged 11.0 points and 6.4 assists in 23 games played this season. He missed eight games with the injury prior to being placed on the list.

In five games played this season, N’Diaye has scored four points and pulled down five rebounds.

The Clippers tied the game on Bobby Simmons' high, arching 3 with 10.3 to go. But Dickau came back with another straightaway 3 over Mikki Moore with 2.1 seconds remaining. Several Hornets -- and even Simmons -- laughed in seeming disbelief as the crowd roared.

``He took it from about three feet beyond the 3. I feel like I played good defense,'' Moore said. ``He just shot an unbelievable shot.''

Simmons got one more shot to tie it at the buzzer, but his off-balance shot from well behind the 3-point line missed the rim as the Clippers lost their fifth straight game.

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Los Angeles has lost four straight games, and six of eight. The Clippers (18-21) are three games under .500 for the first time this season.

``In the second half, we missed some easy shots, made some mistakes on defense, and we're down 15 in a heartbeat,'' coach Mike Dunleavy said.

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The Clippers took a 79-78 lead with 19 seconds remaining on a pair of free throws by Bobby Simmons. On the next possession, the Spurs' Manu Ginobili curled around the lane and passed to Parker in the left corner.

Parker, who finished with 25 points, faked a 3-pointer to get Simmons off his feet and then drove baseline.

``I wanted to shoot the 3, but they came so fast that I pump-faked and it was wide open,'' he said.

On Kaman's reaction, Parker said, ``I think I came too fast for him. He had no chance.'

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But Clippers leading scorer Corey Maggette shot 2-for-17 and had just 10 points. He missed seven of his first eight attempts, including a 21-foot airball from the right baseline with 3:26 left in the first.

Maggette missed at least 10 shots for the ninth time this season. The Clippers are 1-8 in those games, including Friday night's win over Miami, when Maggette hit a game-winning buzzer-beater in double overtime to finish 8-for-22.

``I didn't play well and I hurt the team,'' said Maggette, who shot 6-for-30 in the home-and-home set with Sacramento. ``I was getting good looks, but it was just like an iron lid on the rim. You go through those nights where you're not shooting the ball well, but throughout all that, we still had an opportunity to win this game.''

Bobby Simmons, averaging 18 points in his previous six games, picked up two fouls in the first 3:10 and had only 12 points in 29 minutes.

Injury-plagued guard Kerry Kittles, who replaced Simmons at small forward after the second foul, left the game with 10:06 left in the second quarter because of a groin strain. Kittles, who joined the Clippers in an offseason trade with New Jersey, already has missed 26 games because of knee and back ailments.

``I hurt it a couple of games ago and just re-aggravated it today,'' Kittles said. ``I would say it's doubtful for the next game.''

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