<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">CHICAGO ? Dribble penetration by guards hurt the Clippers when the Chicago Bulls beat them last month at Staples Center. The Clippers were determined not to let it happen again Friday. The Clippers closed off the lanes much more successfully than they did at home and put the onus on the Bulls to make contested jumpshots. Not nearly enough of them fell, as the Clippers used the stellar defensive performance to offset a weak shooting night and began a two-game trip with a 107-96 victory at United Center. The Clippers improved their road record to 14-15, and they are 17-10 against Eastern Conference teams. They conclude regular-season play against the East tonight at Milwaukee. The Clippers have won two in a row and five of the past seven, and Friday's victory was Mike Dunleavy's 100th victory as Clippers coach in his third season. "We're still figuring out our way,'" said forward Vladimir Radmanovic, who came off the bench to hit four three-pointers. "Corey (Maggette) is just coming back from his injury, and I'm still new. But hopefully, by the time the playoffs come, we'll be fine." Six Clippers scored in double figures, led by guard Sam Cassell's 32 points. Elton Brand had 19 points and 13 rebounds. The balanced scoring made up for a 42.5 percent field-goal shooting performance. "Guys like Maggette, Radmanovic and (Shaun) Livingston all played very well," Dunleavy said. The rotation was reduced to eight players, but with Maggette finishing with 14 points and 10 rebounds, Radmanovic scoring 14, and Livingston punching out with 10 points, five assists and four rebounds, it was a productive night from the bench. "Everybody contributed tonight," guard Cuttino Mobley said. "On any given night it can be anybody, Elton, Sam, myself, Radmanovic, Corey. We have a solid squad." The Clippers limited the Bulls to 41.8 percent shooting, mainly because they prevented the number of successful forays down the lane by Chicago guards Kirk Hinrich and Ben Gordon. "The stat sheet does not really show it, but they pretty much outplayed us from beginning to end," Chicago coach Scott Skiles said. Hinrich shook loose for 21 points, and forward Luol Deng had a hefty 17-point, 18-rebound double-double. But Chicago was unable to exploit the Clippers defense at the level it did in the first meeting. "We were better in our coverages at guarding their pick-and-roll," Clippers swingman Quinton Ross said. "We were able to keep those guys in front of us most of the time. That's going to be key for us the rest of the year in helping us get to the playoffs, playing good defense." Cassell had his first 30-point game since the opening-night victory at Seattle. Beginning when he scored on a jumpshot, with 4:32 left in the first half and ending with his jumper with 9:42 remaining in the third quarter, Cassell was in the midst of a scoring binge in which he scored 19 of the team's 22 points. "When he's shooting the ball like he did tonight, he's tough to stop," Dunleavy said. Cassell made two three-pointers during that stretch and overall made 11 of 18 from the field, and he was perfect on eight free-throw attempts. "We got stagnant offensively, and I just got some good looks," Cassell said. "I pride myself on making shots off the dribble."</div> Source
