Brand, Kaman lead Clippers to defeat Bucks

MILWAUKEE - Elton Brand and fellow post player Chris Kaman scored 22 points apiece to lead the Los Angeles Clippers over the Milwaukee Bucks 106-98 Saturday night. Brand called Kaman "unstoppable." He just as easily could have been talking about himself as the pair also combined for 18 rebounds and nine blocked shots, six by Brand. Kaman shot 10-of-13. "He was unstoppable," Brand said. "We were just trying to get him the ball. He was scoring at will down there, left hand, right hand. They had no answer for him tonight." Sam Cassell, in his return to Milwaukee, added 20 points for the Clippers, who used a late 11-2 run to take control. Michael Redd led the Bucks with 31 points, but he was 1-of-8 from the field in the fourth quarter. Milwaukee lost for the eighth time in 11 games. The Bucks have lost five straight home games for the first time since losing seven in a row in February 2000. "We've got to come out with more fire, more intensity," Redd said. Bucks center Andrew Bogut said the team looked "lost" early. "We come out soft," he said. "Every team that has come in here has probably run the first quarter." The Clippers shot 51 percent. Vladimir Radmanovic had 16 points off the bench, including two big 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to extend the lead. Reserve Charlie Bell added 15 points for Milwaukee, and Jamaal Magloire had 13 points and 10 rebounds. Kaman had eight rebounds before fouling out with 1:22 remaining. His point total was three shy of his season and career highs. Kaman had just four points in 22 minutes in the teams' last meeting, a 109-85 Clippers victory on Nov. 15. "Chris Kaman put on a pretty good show," Bucks coach Terry Stotts said. "We weren't able to stop him 1-on-1." In his mind, Kaman felt he shouldn't have missed at all. "I have played better," he said. "I have had better games. But I was feeling pretty good the way I was shooting. "And the ones that I missed were pretty easy shots." Los Angeles was in control early, racing to a 10-2 lead and later 20-10 as Cassell scored 10 points in the first period. An 18-4 run to end the first quarter and start the second quarter helped the Clippers to a 57-45 halftime lead. Brand nailed a 28-footer at the buzzer for his first career 3-pointer. "Our offense was out of synch from the very beginning," Stotts said. Milwaukee responded in the third quarter, with Redd scoring seven straight points to cut the Clippers' lead to 74-72. Redd had 11 points in the period en route to his 14th 30-point game this season, his third in March. The Bucks tied it for the first time at 78 with a 10-footer by Redd, but Kaman scored a short turnaround jumper to put Los Angeles back on top. Milwaukee took its first lead at 82-80 on a three-point play by Bell. The Bucks had their last lead at 86-85 with more than 6 minutes left before the Clippers' decisive run. "There were a lot of good parts to this game, but in the third quarter we let them back in it," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "They are a good team and are fighting for playoff positioning, so we knew it was going to be a tough game." -AP