Tuesday, March 11, 1997 | 11:59 a.m.
The Clippers ended a four-game losing streak and opened a three-game lead over Phoenix in the race for the final Western Conference playoff spot with a 112-106 victory over Golden State on Monday night.
The Warriors, who would've moved within two games of Los Angeles with a win, instead fell four behind after the NBA's only game Monday.
"That's (staying in playoff contention) some motivation for us, but we just wanted to get back on the winning trail," Clippers guard Brent Barry said. "We'd had four very tough ballgames where we lost some close ones and ones we certainly could have won. We just want to feel good about ourselves right now."
Rodney Rogers scored eight of the Clippers' final 10 points to help them overcome a 16-point deficit and Latrell Sprewell's 41 points.
"We picked up our defense with a carload of guys," Los Angeles coach Bill Fitch said. "Our defense actually got us into our offense. I told them at halftime that tight losses where the quality of play was good lets you think there might be a real stinker right around the corner. You've got an excuse to play a stinking game, but don't do it. Every game is important. We can't afford to lose any game, especially at home."
Malik Sealy, who had the misfortune of guarding Sprewell, knew what the game meant.
"We're in a position with Sacramento, Golden State and Phoenix chasing us, so we don't want to end up where we're on the outside," he said.
Sprewell said the Warriors are still in the playoff picture.
"I think so, especially with these guys (the Clippers) having to go on the road. They have a little swing to go on, and we have a lot of home games. If we continue to play the way we did tonight, we'll be OK."
The Clippers won the season series with Golden State 3-1, as the Warriors fell to 0-8 on the road against Pacific Division opponents.
Loy Vaught led the Clippers with 22 points and 11 rebounds, and rookie Lorenzen Wright added a season-high 17 points, as well as 10 rebounds.
The Warriors, who led by 16 points earlier, still had a 64-51 advantage with 10:46 left in the third quarter. But Barry's 3-pointer started Los Angeles on a 15-2 run that tied the score 66-66 with 6:17 left in the period.
The Clippers took the lead for the first time on Charles Outlaw's dunk to open the fourth quarter, making it 80-78. They continued on a 13-5 run for a 91-83 lead with 8:23 left.
Donyell Marshall's free throw capped a 5-0 spurt to close the Warriors to 101-97 with 2:49 remaining, but they got no closer.
"Bottom line was they stopped us when they had to, and we weren't able to stop them," Golden State's Chris Mullin said. "They got a lot of offensive put-backs and, boy, they really hurt us. You can't give a team like that second opportunities."
Mullin, who had his string of 47 consecutive free throws snapped in the second quarter, was ejected with 1:38 left in the game after arguing an offensive foul call with referee Tommy Nunez. Mullin walked off the court with the ball.
"Most of the time you don't have the ball in your hands when you're ejected," he said. "I happened to have it in my hands and I just kept walking."
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