Baron Davis Gets 20 Assists in Win Over Wizards

The Clippers were yet again without one of their starters against the Washington Wizards, but for once, it didn't matter. Behind 20 assists from Baron Davis, L.A. pulled away in the fourth quarter to beat the Wizards, 123-108.

Marcus Camby sat this one out with a sore hamstring, and rookie DeAndre Jordan lasted just five minutes as a starter. But Chris Kaman had 19 points and six rebounds off the bench in 21 minutes, and L.A.'s hot three-point shooting, especially in the second half, proved to be the difference.

L.A. was down by eight at halftime, but managed to put up 37 points in the third to tie the game heading into the fourth quarter. They allowed Washington to hang around for about half of the final period, before finishing the game on an 18-5 run, putting away a Wizards team that was definitely feeling the effects of playing on the second night of a back-to-back.

"Just ran out of gas," Jamison said. "We did a great job as far as matching their energy and moving the ball. As the second half wore on, we couldn't convert offensively and defensively. With Novak and Kaman, it really gave them a deep bench. Fred Jones did a terrific job. The guys who came off the bench really elevated their game."

"We played a game with eight guys and we played a hard game last night in Utah. You don't like to use that as an excuse, but it's a reality," Wizards coach Ed Tapscott said.

Steve Novak had 21 points in 26 minutes off the bench, and hit six of his 10 three-point attempts. The Clippers as a team shot a ridiculous 57.7 percent from downtown for the game, and at least one member of the team noticed just how ridiculous that was.

"Novak is like a video game," said Al Thornton, who chipped in 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting.

Caron Butler missed his third straight game for Washington, and Baron's assist total tied a personal career high, while being just the sixth time in the last 20 years a Clipper has achieved that milestone. It's a sign of what could be when this current Clippers roster is clicking on all cylinders, but they'll need to wait until next season to see if they can sustain this type of effort with a healthy roster over an 82-game campaign.