Los Angeles ? The last time the Los Angeles Clippers made the playoffs, Darrick Martin played all 82 games and was their fourth-leading scorer. Now that he’s back, they feel confident about returning to the postseason.
Martin made three clutch outside shots in the final 2:21, and Corey Maggette had 31 points and 10 rebounds as the Clippers beat the Seattle SuperSonics for the second time this season, 103-92 Thursday night.
“D. Martin has the attitude and the veteran leadership that we need, just like Rick Brunson,” Maggette said. “When our main guys are hurting, they’ve played significant roles and have stepped up to the challenge. D. Martin came in here like he’s been in the system for the past year.”
The Clippers won the season series for the first time since 1989-90 by taking two of three, including a 114-84 victory at Staples Center on opening night.
“It gives our team a lot of confidence,” Elton Brand, who had 19 points. “It also says we are growing and that we can match up with just about any team if we play our defensive sets right.”
Ray Allen had 22 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for Seattle. But Rashard Lewis, the Sonics’ second-leading scorer, had a season-low four points in 18 minutes and sat out the second half because of tendinitis in his left knee.
Maggette made a 16-footer and Quinton Ross stripped the ball from Allen on the Sonics’ next possession, converting the steal into a breakaway dunk that gave Los Angeles an 83-76 lead with 6:42 remaining.
“It’s like we gave up on defense in the fourth quarter,” Allen said. “We just let them score too many points. When we needed a stop, we didn’t get one. It was a bad energy game for us overall.”
Allen answered that embarrassment with a 3-pointer. But the Sonics never got closer than that four-point spread thanks to Martin, who had his best game since rejoining the Clippers on Jan. 5 when he was signed to a 10-day contract.
“I didn’t really have any expectations, other than an opportunity to play and showcase myself and hope that things would blossom into something more,” said Martin, a member of the 1996-97 Clippers who were swept by Utah in the first round of the playoffs. “This is where I’ve had the most productive times in my career, so it’s good to be home.”
The victory improved the Clippers’ record to 17-17 — tied for eighth-best in the West.
Martin drained a 3-pointer, a 22-footer and a fadeaway 16-footer in a 1:37 span, and Bobby Simmons scored five of his 18 points on free throws in the final 36 seconds to clinch it.
“With each one, I had a little more of a swagger,” Martin said with a grin. “I was just having fun and enjoying the moment. I was able to play pick-and-roll, and that’s kind of my thing.”
The Sonics led only once in the first half, when Reggie Evans opened the scoring with a short hook shot. They didn’t lead again until Ronald Murray’s 11-foot running jumper put them ahead 70-69 with 33 seconds left in the third quarter.
Seattle rallied from as many as 13 points down in the third and tied it 64-all with an 11-4 run that included Vladimir Radmanovic’s first two baskets of the game — both on 3-pointers 43 seconds apart.
Allen, who scored 31 points against the Clippers in Tuesday night’s 104-99 victory at Seattle, missed seven of his first eight shots and was 7-for-20 overall.
Radmanovic, who scored nine points in the fourth quarter of Tuesday’s win, missed his first six shots and finished 3-for-13 with eight points.
“We won with defensive execution,” Brand said. “We held Radmanovic to a poor-shooting night, had mobile-big Mikki Moore in his face a lot, and that helped immensely.”
The Clippers used 19 points by Maggette and 13 from Brand to build a 51-42 halftime lead. Seattle shot 33.3 percent in the first half, missing 12 of 15 attempts from behind the arc.
Los Angeles extended a two-point lead to 40-30 with a three-point play by Kerry Kittles, a 3-pointer by Maggette and a tip-in by Moore with 6:48 left in the second quarter. Martin’s layup gave the Clippers their biggest lead of the half, 44-33.
“We’re going to come out and compete every night, we’re going to play with a chip on our shoulder and we’re going to earn respect,” Martin said.
Notes: Sonics associate head coach Dwane Casey ran the club in place of Nate McMillan, who was in Raleigh, N.C., for the funeral of his aunt. It was the second time Casey filled in for McMillan because of a family emergency. The other time was Jan. 11, 2002, when McMillan visited his ailing mother and the Sonics beat Cleveland 102-100 at Seattle. … Free agent pitcher Derek Lowe, who signed with the Dodgers on Wednesday, was among the crowd. So was Dodgers vice president Tommy Lasorda, who occupied Clipper owner Donald Sterling’s midcourt seat. … The Clippers are the second team to beat the Sonics twice, along with Boston. … The Sonics, who had a season-low eight turnovers against the Clippers at KeyArena, reached that total with 59 seconds left in the first half when Maggette intercepted Allen’s pass through the key. They finished with 16 turnovers.
