LA Clippers trounced Detroit 97-68 today, putting an end to a verbal sparring match. Perhaps in an effort to bolster his overmatched team's confidence, Detroit coach David Smith has been all over the paper and evening news predicting an easy victory. Just before gametime he said, "Records don't mean anything coming into a game like this. We all know who's the better team, and we're going to show it." These words turned out to be true, but not in the sense he had meant them.

LA Clippers coach Adnan Bislimovic refused to trade jabs before the game, instead leaving the job to his superior team. Afterwards, he thought David Smith's strategy curious. "No offense, but if you've got the crummy team and go around saying stuff like that, you just look like an idiot. Did he think we would actually believe that garbage? Maybe he should have invested his time coming up with a game plan rather than a press conference speech."

LA Clippers was led by Minor (22 points, 9 boards, 1 assists, a block), Quarles (17 points, 5 boards, 1 assists, 2 blocks), Boswell (5 points, 8 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks). Detroit was led by Sandercock (14 points), Marko (12 points, 0 assists), Johnson (6 points, 2 blocks).

LA Clippers jump to 35-8 and 19-2 at home. They hold at #1 in the Pacific and stay at #1 overall in the Western Conference. With today's defeat, Detroit are now 22-18. They stay at #2 in the Central and stay at #7 overall in the Eastern Conference.

box score LA Clippers* roster Detroit* roster