By Paul Levine Jan 2, 2006, 15:30 GMT
Los Angeles - The Los Angeles Clippers rang in the New Year by putting an end to an old losing streak.
Cuttino Mobley scored 24 points and backcourt partner Sam Cassell had 23 to pace a balanced attack as the Clippers turned back the Portland Trail Blazers, 100-94 on Sunday night for their first victory at the Rose Garden in nearly seven seasons.
'We're 1-0 for the New Year and we're not looking back,' said Clippers hard-working forward Elton Brand, following a 20-point, 11-rebound effort. 'We won tonight so that's all we're looking at.'
Chris Kaman collected 14 and 15 boards for the slumping Clippers, (16-12), who had dropped seven of its last nine outings overall, before snapping a 12-game skid at Portland dating back to April 11, 1999.
'This game wasn't do-or-die at this point and time, but certainly for us this was a much needed win,' said former Trail Blazers and current Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. 'We had been struggling and we did a lot of good things performance-wise.'
The Clippers carried an 85-71 cushion with two minutes gone in the final quarter before Juan Dixon's 3-pointer pulled the Trail Blazers within 96-94 with 17 seconds left to play. Kaman, however, made four free throws to end the drought.
Dixon had 24 points while Zach Randolph added 18 and 11 rebounds for Portland, (10-20), which owned a 26-3 home record against the Clippers since the start of the 1991-92 season.
'We got to stop trying to play from behind,' Dixon said. 'We always dig ourselves a hole and try to make a surge in the fourth quarter, but its too late.'
Elsewhere: Miami Heat 97, Minnesota Timberwolves 70: Dwyane Wade erupted for nine of his 19 points in a game-breaking 25-6 run to open the third quarter, and the Heat pulled away from the Timberwolves for their most-lopsided victory of the season.
Shaquille O'Neal netted 16 points while backup centre Alonzo Mourning had 13 and 10 rebounds for Miami, (19-13), which outscored its visitors 56-26 in the second half, to turn a three-point halftime deficit into a route.
Wally Szczerbiak scored 19 points and Kevin Garnett matched a season-low with just 11 on 4-of-13 shooting but had 11 rebounds for Minnesota, (14-14) which remains atop the Northwest Division despite losing for the eighth time in the last 10 games.
Utah Jazz 98, L.A. Lakers 94: Andrei Kirilenko scored 23 points, Keith McLeod scored four of his 15 in the final 77 seconds as the visiting Jazz capitalized on Kobe Bryant's absence for their fourth straight victory.
Bryant, the league's No. 2 leading scorer at 32.7 points per game, was suspended for two games without pay by the league after committing a flagrant foul with a forearm to the throat of Mike Miller in last Wednesday's 100-99 overtime loss to Memphis. He will also miss the second game of the home-and-home series at Utah on Tuesday.
Brian Cook scored a season-high 19 points on 8-of-10 shooting, while Lamar Odom had 18 along with 12 rebounds and eight assists for the short-handed Lakers, (15-15), who have dropped a season-high four straight games.
Odom's layup with 1:37 remaining pulled the Lakers into a 92-all deadlock but McLeod got free for a wide-open layup at the other just 20 seconds later. After a turnover by Luke Walton, McLeod made two free throws and Kirilenko's fast-break dunk sealed the win.
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