Clippers lose to Magic, cut ties to GM Mike Dunleavy

Wednesday, 10 March 2010 08:37 PM Adrian Dy

The Orlando Magic had no trouble with this particular LA team. Meanwhile, the Clippers had to deal with their seventh straight loss and the unexpected firing of general manager Mike Dunleavy.

Dwight Howard notched an early double-double of 22 points and 15 rebounds to go with his 3 blocks, and his Orlando Magic (45-20) showed no signs of a letdown, two days after winning a 2-point squeaker over the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers. Against the hapless LA Clippers (25-39), it was a 26-point rout, 113-87.

Jameer Nelson added 17 points and 8 assists in just 29 minutes, Rashard Lewis pumped in 15, and the Magic bench got busy, with 36 points in total.

The hapless Clippers were led by Baron Davis, who came off the bench because of a stomach illness. David had 16 points and 9 assists in 26 minutes, but he soon returned to the bench as the lead spiraled quickly out of control. The Clipper big men, Drew Gooden and Chris Kaman each had 12 points and they combined for 20 rebounds. Shooting guard Eric Gordon was also unavailable to the team with a sore right leg.

Although the Clippers made the first field goal, after Vince Carte got a gimme when Drew Gooden was called for illegal defense on the second possession of the game, 1-2, that would be as close as it would get for LA.

Four triples by Magic players in the first quarter made it 31-21. By halftime, it was 67-41, and the crowd had stayed behind at the Amway Arena in Orlando to see what zany things could happen, such as when Dwight Howard did his best Magic Johnson impersonation by corralling a rebound and going coast to coast before dishing off to Brandon Bass for the dunk.

Interim Clippers coach Kim Hughes broke the news of Dunleavy's firing to an already downtrodden Clippers locker room after the loss. He is to be replaced in the interim by assistant general manager Neil Olshey.

Dunleavy barely had the sole title of general manager for a month before the firing. He had earlier given up the coaching job to Hughes last February 4. He had assumed the dual role of coach-GM last October 7, 2008, when then general manager Elgin Baylor left the job under some controversy over whether he was fired or quit.

GAME NOTES:

The Magic went 12 for 12 from the foul line. Clippers only got 6 attempts and converted 5.
Starting Clippers point guard Steve Blake went 4 for 8 from the field, including 3 for 4 from beyond the arc. He also had 5 assists and a steal.
The Magic are an impressive 30-4 so far this season when they hold teams to below 96 points
You can rule out Jerry West for the GM job ("out of respect to Elgin Baylor" says Yahoo Sports' Adrian Wojnarowski) and Larry Brown ("source says LB checked weeks ago when MJ buying Bobcats was shaky" says ESPN's Ric Bucher)

Scores:

ORLANDO MAGIC 113 : D. Howard - 22, J. Nelson - 17, R. Lewis - 15, V. Carter - 13, M. Barnes - 10, J. Redick - 10, B. Bass - 8, R. Anderson - 6, B. Bass -6, M. Gortat - 4, J. Williams - 2, A. Johnson - 0

LA CLIPPERS 87 : B. Davis - 16, D. Gooden - 12, C. Kaman - 12, S. Blake - 11, R. Butler - 9, C. Smith - 9, D. Jordan - 6, S. Novak - 5, T. Outlaw - 5, M. Collins -2, B. Brown - 0

Quarter Scoring

31 - 21, 67 - 41, 91 - 68, 113 - 87

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