Van Exel’s Best Gets the Best of Clippers

Denver point guard Nick Van Exel’s career with the Lakers did not end positively but that hasn’t diminished his love affair with Los Angeles fans.

Traded to the Nuggets during the off-season, Van Exel scored 22 of 34 points in the second half Sunday, including two clutch jump shots in the final minute, to give Denver a 103-101 victory over the Clippers before 9,450 at the Sports Arena.

“I would like to think that it’s natural but it’s not,” said Van Exel about his last two games in Los Angeles. He scored a career-high 41 points against the Lakers earlier this month. “Some nights I have it, some nights I don’t . . . When I get it on a consistent basis, then I’ll be a lot better [player].

“[Los Angeles] fans give me a lot of support and that gives me a lot of confidence. It’s greatly appreciated that I can come back here and they still cheer for me. I really love that. . . . it makes me go out and play a lot harder.”

Van Exel, who made 12 of 23 shots from the field and had seven assists, had to make tough shots down the stretch. With the score tied, 99-99, Van Exel tried to pump-fake the Clippers’ Sherman Douglas into the air and then forced in a shot from the deep left corner with 36.5 seconds remaining.

After Maurice Taylor, who had a career-high 28 points, tied the score again with a difficult left-hand layup with 27.3 seconds left, Van Exel took center stage again.

Clipper Coach Chris Ford inserted Troy Hudson, the team’s best backcourt defender, to guard Van Exel but it didn’t make any difference. Van Exel dribbled the clock down before faking a drive and getting enough separation for his winning basket from the right side of the top of the key.

“I set him up for the step-back and it worked,” said Van Exel, who scored his final points with 5.5 seconds left. “I knew he would be overly aggressive to stop the drive. . . . I didn’t know that I would hit it but I knew I would get a good look at it.”

After Van Exel’s last basket with 5.5 seconds left, the Clippers had Douglas dribble the length of the court before launching a desperation three-point attempt that fell off the mark at the buzzer.

The Clippers, who had won four of six games before Sunday, would have been able to set up a play from halfcourt if they had a timeout remaining. But they had wasted a timeout on an in-bounds play.

Maurice Taylor led the Clippers with a career-high 28 points. Antonio McDyess, who fouled out, added 18 points and 10 rebounds for Denver.

After the game, Ford and his staff watched tape of the play that forced the Clippers to utilize use their final timeout. Just another way the Clippers have lost this season.

“Everybody’s working hard,” said Lorenzen Wright, who had 14 rebounds and nine points off the bench.

“Once we started playing well, our confidence grew . . . we can’t let [losing close games] get us down.”