Huge Fourth Propels Clippers to Victory

This time, the Los Angeles Clippers owned the fourth quarter.

Quentin Richardson's 3-pointer with 30 seconds left lifted the Clippers to a 82-77 victory over the Eastern Conference-leading Detroit Pistons.

In Friday's 110-80 loss to the Los Angeles Lakers, the Clippers were outscored, 38-15, in the final quarter. It looked like it was going to happen again as the Clippers trailed 66-56 after three periods.

But Los Angeles outscored Detroit 26-11 in the final 12 minutes and eventually tied the game, 77-77 on Jeff McInnis' jumper with 1:45 remaining.

Richardson, who is shooting 46 percent from the arc, scored 11 points off the bench. His 3-pointer gave Los Angeles its first lead since the second quarter.

Richardson started the play by rebounding Ben Wallace's missed layup. He passed upcourt to Lamar Odom and found himself alone at the top of the key before taking a return pass.

Lamar Odom scored a season-high 25 points and Quentin Richardson hit a dramatic 3-pointer with 30.7 seconds remaining as the Los Angeles Clippers erased a 13-point deficit in the fourth quarter to beat the Detroit Pistons 82-77 Sunday.

Jerry Stackhouse scored 26 points for the Eastern Conference-leading Pistons, but missed a few key shots down the stretch as the Pistons lost to the Clippers for the third straight time after eight consecutive victories against them.

Trailing 70-57 after Ben Wallace's layup with 9:17 remaining, the Clippers closed to 73-67 with a 10-3 spurt. Darius Miles and Odom made 3-pointers and Miles slammed home Earl Boykins' alley-oop feed with 6:34 to play.

Elton Brand cut it to 75-71 with 4:13 left, blocking an attempted jumper in the lane by Clifford Robinson and converting Odom's pass at the other end for a dunk.

Stackhouse missed a 3-pointer and a driving layup attempt on Detroit's next two possessions, and the Clippers tied it at 75 with two free throws each by Brand and Odom.

Stackhouse and Jeff McInnis traded jumpers before Stackhouse missed one from the lane in heavy traffic. Richardson's 3-pointer from the top of the key gave the Clippers their first lead since the second quarter. After a Detroit timeout, Robinson fumbled the ensuing inbounds pass out of bounds and McInnis sealed it with a pair of free throws.

The Pistons built a 66-55 lead with nine third-quarter points by Stackhouse and a 14-footer by Corliss Williamson with 25 seconds left in the period.

The Clippers committed 13 of their 21 turnovers in the first half, but trailed only 43-42 at halftime after Detroit shot 39 percent from the field. The Pistons, who entered with a league-leading .474 field goal percentage, finished at 37 percent.

McInnis beat the first-quarter buzzer with a running jumper from the right baseline, and Odom made 3-pointer with 1.5 seconds left in the second to finish the half with 15 points.

After committing nine turnovers and falling behind by seven points, the Clippers pulled ahead for the first time at 31-29 on Richardson's layup with 6:27 left in the second quarter.

Miles made perhaps the best defensive play of the contest, blocking an attempted layup by Stackhouse as the two-time All-Star tried to float one over the 6-foot-9 forward with 3:38 left in the half. Stackhouse was rejected again by Michael Olowokandi with 8:39 left in the third.

Notes

Lamar Odom scored a season-high 25 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out six assists as the Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Detroit Pistons, 82-77, at the Staples Center.

Elton Brand and Michael Olowokandi each pulled down 13 boards for the Clippers, who have won eight of their last nine home games and seven of their last 10 overall. Brand also collected 10 points.

In his second game back from a groin injury, Jerry Stackhouse poured in a game-high 26 points for the Pistons, who had a three-game winning streak snapped.

Corliss Williamson scored 15 points off the bench for the Pistons and Cliff Robinson contributed with 10 points and nine rebounds.

With 30 seconds left in the game, Quentin Richardson connected on his first three-point attempt of the game to put the Clippers up 80-77 -- their first lead since a 35-34 advantage in the second quarter.

The Pistons failed to score again after Richardson's three who finished with 11 points.

The Clippers went on an 18-5 run in the final quarter to tie the game at 75 apiece. Odom hit two free throws with 2:21 left to bring the Clippers all the way back from a 70-57 deficit.

Odom had 10 points in the first quarter for the Clippers, who trailed 21-16 after the first 12 minutes.

The Pistons only led by one, 43-42, at the intermission, but increased their advantage to 66-56 at the end of three quarters.

Ben Wallace grabbed a game-high 14 rebounds for the Pistons. However, Detroit was still out rebounded, 51-37.

Darius Miles scored 14 and Jeff McInnis added 12 for the Clippers.

Pistons guard Dana Barros did not play due to a hamstring injury...The 13 rebounds were a season-high for Olowokandi...The Clippers are 8-2 against teams from the Eastern Conference...The Pistons only shot 37 percent from the field...Clippers coach Alvin Gentry, who had a 73-72 record as Pistons coach, is 3-0 against them since getting fired 58 games into the 1999-00 season.