Chris Kaman had 22 points and seven rebounds in his return to the lineup, and the Los Angeles Clippers snapped a four-game skid with an easy 106-95 victory over the downtrodden New Jersey Nets on Monday.
Kaman, who missed the previous four games with a sore lower back after being the only Clipper to play in each of the first 35 contests, played 30 minutes and made 10 of 16 shots. Marcus Camby had 17 points and 14 rebounds, and Craig Smith added 18 points off the bench.
The Clippers shot 55.6 percent, improving to 10-4 when they're at 50 percent or better. Point guard Baron Davis had nine points and nine assists before sitting out the fourth quarter.
Brook Lopez, the only Nets player to start and play in all 40 games, had 23 points and eight rebounds and reserve Kris Humphries had a career-high 21 points. Lopez started the day averaging 18.8 points, third in the NBA among centers. Kaman came in averaging 20.4 points.
The Nets, a league-worst 3-37, have started a calendar year 0-8 for the first time since 1981 under interim coach Bob MacKinnon. The franchise record in that department is 0-11 under Kevin Loughery in 1977, their first season following the NBA-ABA merger. They also started 1991 with an 0-7 mark.
New Jersey has to win seven of its remaining 42 games to avoid tying the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers' 9-73 record for the worst in NBA history. That may not be as easy as it sounds.
The Nets are 3-20 since general manager Kiki Vandeweghe added head coach to his job duties after Lawrence Frank was fired on Nov. 29. All three wins have come against Eastern Conference teams with losing records. They have lost 26 consecutive games against Western Conference clubs since beating Denver 114-70 on Feb. 7, 2009, at the Meadowlands for the second-biggest winning margin in franchise history.
After losing by 40 points to the defending NBA champion Lakers and one point to Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland in their previous two games, the Clippers finally got a cupcake. They never trailed, building a 15-point lead on Smith's dunk with 3:21 left in the first quarter and shooting 61 percent from the field in the first half to take a 61-41 advantage at intermission.
The Nets missed 10 of their first 14 shots and finished at 45.8 percent from the field en route to their eighth wire-to-wire defeat this season. They never got closer than 11 points (with 45 seconds remaining), after Eric Gordon's layup gave the Clippers their biggest lead, 90-66, with 11:44 left.
Yi Jianlian scored nine of his 13 points in the final 3:38 for New Jersey and was 3 for 13 from the field.
The Clippers have beaten the Nets the last six times they have met at Staples Center. After this four-game western swing, which includes stops in Phoenix, Golden State and Utah, New Jersey will return home for a rematch with the Clippers on Jan. 27.
NOTES: Since the start of the 2007-08 season, the Clippers are 15-65 when Kaman isn't in the lineup, and 45-79 when he is. ... Vandeweghe said before the game that assistant coach Tom Barrise would become a special assistant to club president Rod Thorn, and that associate coach-advance scout Jimmy Sann would replace him on the bench. Sann originally joined the coaching staff during 2005-06 season. Barrise's main responsibility will be to scout college players on a regular basis. "That was really Rod's decision," Vandeweghe said. "Scouting is paramount for us, and Tom is a very talented scout and talent evaluator. We have three of the top 35 picks in the draft, so it's a big draft year for us and an important free agent year. Jimmy will be coaching and working with guys, but he's also really good at player development and will take up that role." ... Vandeweghe spent the final season of his 13-year playing career with the Clippers in 1992-93 under Larry Brown, but was limited to 41 games because of back problems. It was one of only four seasons in which the Clippers have made the playoffs since moving from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984-85.
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