Brown had 42 points today, doing enough to help LA Clippers avoid being upset by brilliantly-coached Portland and get the 106-97 win in overtime. Nobody really gave Portland much of a chance coming in, except for head coach Bob. "You all think I'm nuts, but we can play with these guys. They've got the better record, but we've made some changes lately and I feel good about the level we're at."

Surprising as those words were, it was even more of a surprise when his team did as predicted and played as equals with LA Clippers for the whole game. But the perfect execution faltered a bit during overtime, allowing the more-talented LA Clippers squad to come away with the win.

"They really surprised us," said LA Clippers coach Bob. "Not that we were looking past anybody, but they played the best we've seen them play for a while. [Portland coach] Bob really got his team prepared and gave us a fight."

LA Clippers was led by Brown (42 points, 17 boards, 0 assists, a block), Patrick (22 points, 1 assists, 3 blocks), Reese (17 points, 2 blocks). Portland was led by Smith (29 points, 5 boards, 11 assists), Vanderveer (8 points, 14 boards, 3 assists, 5 blocks), Holmes (10 points, 2 assists, a steal, a block).

After the victory, LA Clippers jump to 8-2. They stay at #2 in the Pacific and move up to #4 overall in the Western Conference. Portland ended their tear at 5 games, and drop to 7-4 and 5-2 at home. They remain at #2 in the Northwest and remain at #6 overall in the Western Conference.

box score LA Clippers roster Portland roster