Los Angeles wins on road for second time in two months

ATLANTA (AP) -- While the Los Angeles Clippers were relieved after a rare road win, the woeful Atlanta Hawks were challenged by their frustrated coach.

Elton Brand scored a season-high 33 points to help the Clippers win for only the second time on the road in two months, 111-91 on Sunday night.

"We're just not playing," Hawks coach Mike Woodson after his team's 12th straight loss and 25th in the last 26 games.

Woodson played his four rookies most of the final period.

"I want to keep shuffling guys to find out who wants to play," Woodson said. "I'm going to find me some guys who want to play, if not this year then next year."

Hawks starting forward Al Harrington scored a season-low three points and had only two rebounds in 26 minutes, and starting center Obinna Ekezie was scoreless while playing only 8 minutes.

"Our starters were just awful," Woodson said. "Al and Ekezie didn't do the job."

The Clippers won on the road for only the second time since winning at Memphis on Feb. 3. Their only other road victory during that stretch was against the Lakers on March 8.

"We've been struggling on the road so we didn't know what to expect here," Brand said. "They only have 11 wins, but they're still hungry. They still play hard."

The Clippers had lost the first four games of a seven-game road trip. The Clippers, 25-13 at home, are only 8-28 on the road.

"Right now we're out of the playoff picture," said Corey Maggette, who scored 25 points in his return after missing one game with a bruised lower back. "Right now this is our opportunity to play as hard as we can the last nine games and prepare for next year."

The challenge for the Hawks is to keep their jobs for next year.

Rookie Josh Childress led Atlanta with 23 points. Peja Drobnjak added 13 points. Donta Smith, another rookie, had 10 points and was the team's only other scorer in double figures.

Chris Wilcox had 22 for the Clippers.

"It was a good win for us on the road," Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said. "We've had a lot of injuries and we got a couple guys back today. ... We moved the ball, we had 31 assists and we got some good shots."

The Clippers were without their third-leading scorer, Bobby Simmons, and starting center Chris Kaman, who were held out with injuries.

Even so, the Clippers flourished against the defensively challenged Hawks, who have allowed 100 or more points to 13 straight opponents. The Hawks are 29th in the league with their average of 101.6 points allowed per game.

The Clippers shot 64.1 percent from the field in the first half, two days after the Hawks gave up 69-percent shooting in the first half of a loss to Boston.

In scoring 21 first-half points, Brand made 10 of 11 shots from the field. He was 13-of-18 from the field for the game.

The Clippers took a big lead of 23 points at 88-65 late in the third period. The Hawks cut the deficit to 91-82 with six minutes left when NBA Slam Dunk winner Josh Smith stole the ball from Jaric Marko and scored on a reverse jam.

Wilcox answered with a hook shot for the Clippers, who kept the lead in double figures the rest of the game.

"We're going to have to go back to the drawing board," Woodson said. "We're giving up too many points in bunches too fast. Their interior players just kicked our butt tonight."

Game notes
The Clippers placed C Zeljko Rebraco on the injured list with a sprained right wrist and activated C Mamadou N'Diaye. ... Clippers F Simmons (leg contusion) and C Kaman (lower back) were held out with injuries. ... Hawks G Tyronn Lue returned as a starter after missing one game with a severe headache.