Liz Robbins of the New York Times reports that The Nets are in a bit of a tail spin. They have lost the first two games of their four-game west coast trip and now Dikembe Mutombo has injured the wrist of his shooting hand.

The injury was suffered in the third quarter of the Nets' 126-118 overtime loss to the Los Angeles Clippers. X-rays were negative, but he has been listed as questionable for Saturday?s game against the Trail Blazers. On Friday Nets' president, Rod Thorn, said: "It's real sore today. As to whether he can play tomorrow, we'll just have to see."

Mutombo injured the wrist with six minutes to play in the third quarter when, driving to the basket, the Clippers' Eric Piatkowski slapped him and the ball. On the following defensive sequence, Mutombo motioned for Scott to take him out. He went to the locker room and had the wrist taped. Even though Mutombo played 11 minutes in the fourth quarter and all of the overtime period with the injury, he was in obvious pain afterward.  

With the loss, the Nets dropped to 10-6 and are losing any positive momentum they have built up this early in the season. "It's the same situation we had last year with games on the West Coast and we lost four in a row," Coach Byron Scott said. "We're headed that way now."

In an almost-perfect game Thursday night Clippers guard Andre Miller felt his game-tying three pointer with 4.9 seconds left against the New Jersey Nets was off.  Fortunately for him and his teammates he was wrong.

Miller finished the game with 37 points and 16 assists, totals which equalled his career high and set his season high respectively, as the Clippers were able to pip the Nets 126-118 in overtime.  His strong game overcame another All-NBA statline from the dangerous Jason Kidd, who finished with 35 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists.

"When it left my hand, I thought it was going to go past the rim,'' Miller said of his big 3-pointer.  "Man, he was amazing, hitting shot after shot,'' added teammate Elton Brand.

"We played well, we finished off the game the way we needed to,'' added Miller. "Tonight was a night we were able to get to the basket and make plays. I was able to get guys involved in key situations and they were able to knock down shots."

John Stockton's shorts are still far too short to be considered fashionable at any point since, oh, 1985. Karl Malone still takes roughly 9.99 seconds of his allotted 10 to shoot his free throws. And the Utah Jazz still owns the Clippers.

What else is new?

The Jazz defeated the Clippers, 99-94, in front of a crowd of 15,243 on Tuesday night at Staples Center. That's 15 consecutive victories for Utah over the Clippers, a streak that seemed destined to end when Elton Brand made two free throws to give the Clippers a 90-84 lead with 3:39 remaining.

But the Clippers (5-10) missed too many free throws and turned over the ball to the Jazz far too often and, soon enough, Utah had pulled out a victory by closing with a 15-4 run.

Stockton and Malone didn't win the game by themselves. In fact, Calbert Cheaney (early) and Matt Harpring (late) played pivotal roles for the Jazz, winners of five consecutive games after starting the season 3-7.

Were it not for Matt Harpring on Tuesday night, the Jazz might not be riding a five-game winning streak. But they are.

They probably couldn't say they've won 15 in a row now against the Los Angeles Clippers. But they have.
     
And they certainly would have had a much tougher time beating the Clippers ? which they did, winning 99-94 behind a career-high 30 points from Harpring and a strong final-minute finish that capped a comeback from six down in the fourth.
     
"It's kind of neat to win one down the stretch like this," said Jazz star Karl Malone, who chipped in 17 points and 13 rebounds for his third double-double of the season. "It was a big win for us."
     
With it, Utah improved to 8-7 ? and went above .500 for the first time this season.
     
Harpring did most of his damage in the third quarter, when he scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting, including 3-of-3 from three-point range. But he also was there at the end, when the Jazz, trailing 92-90, outscored the 5-10 Clippers 9-2 in the game's last 60 seconds.

The Jazz had beaten the Clippers 14 straight times, so they knew how it was done. Now Matt Harpring knows, too.
   
Harpring scored a career-high 30 points, 19 of them in a blazing third-quarter display, and hit a tie-breaking layup with 37.5 seconds left, helping the Jazz post their first winning record of the season with a 99-94 victory over the Clippers Tuesday night in the Staples Center.
   
Los Angeles' newest addition wasn't bad, either. Former University of Utah all-American Andre Miller scored 21 points and dished out nine assists, but he couldn't overcome the inside-outside-everywhere scoring night of Harpring.

Joe Stevens of the Los Angeles Daily News reports that the Clippers injury woes just got worse. They learned Tuesday that Corey Maggette will need surgery on his right knee and will miss 4-6 weeks.

An MRI showed that Maggette had been playing on a partially torn lateral meniscus cartilage in his right knee and surgery is a must. He had started 14 games for the Clippers this season but the knee finally appeared to bother him in the past two games, when he shot a combined 3 of 19 for 10 points.

The loss of Maggette, combined with Lamar Odom?s prolonged absence with a sore right ankle means that guards Eric Piatkowski and Marco Jaric will get more minutes as small forwards. "It's the same way we'll approach it without Lamar," coach Alvin Gentry said. "We can sit here and whine about it, but that's no good. Injuries are a part of the game."

Maggette first showed swelling in the knee on November 3rd but He played 11 games with the injury. He will likely undergo arthroscopic surgery by the end of the week. "I think he pushed it to the point of losing his effectiveness," Gentry said. "And one thing about Corey, if he says he's hurt, then he's really hurt."

The NBA began a developmental league last season, but in the eyes of many general managers there has been a developmental team in place for years.

The Los Angeles Clippers seem to find themselves in the draft lottery year after year, collecting talented young players, but they never seem to hold onto them.

That's why teams with money to spend on free agents next summer are especially interested in this year's Clippers team, with nearly every key player in the final year of his contract.

All five starters become free agents next summer, along with Lamar Odom, who hasn't played yet this season because of injuries but is perhaps the team's most gifted athlete.

Aaron J. Lopez of the Rocky Mountain News reports:Los Angeles Clippers center Michael Olowokandi and guard Corey Maggette said Friday they would be willing to listen if the Nuggets call next summer.

"I don't see a reason why anybody would want to dismiss it," Olowokandi said before Denver's game against the Clippers. "It's important to be around the right personnel, the right people and people you think will help you win. That could be anywhere. It could be Denver. It could be L.A. It could be Milwaukee."

Said Maggette: "You can't close the door on anyone. If it's an option in the summer, it's an option."

Nuggets general manager Kiki Vandeweghe tutored Olowokandi at Pete Newell's Big Man Camp before Olowokandi's senior year at the University of the Pacific, and again before his rookie season with the Clippers.

Before signing a one-year contract with Los Angeles this summer, Olowokandi met privately with Vandeweghe, although the details weren't revealed.

"I can't say anything about that," Olowokandi said, a broad smile forming. "Kiki's always been a friend of mine, even before I got to the pros."

Maggette will be a restricted free agent at the end of the season.

The Nuggets are projected to have about $20 million in capspace this summer to go after free agents.

The Denver Nuggets take on the LA Clippers starting @ 8:40 tonight.  It is on FoxSportsNet.

Pat Riley consistently praises the defensive efforts of Grant and Allen and would like to reward them with touches in the paint. But he recognizes their limitations.

''[Brand, Olowokandi and O'Neal] are entirely different post-up players than ours,'' Riley said. ``The level of post-up, back-to-the-basket play is at a different level, so we don't do that much.

``But we talked about that, and we're going to have to try to generate somewhat of a post presence where the defense is going to have to respect that.''