Ceballos Has a Big Night Despite Flu

The Lakers caught the Clippers with their guards down.

With starting guards Pooh Richardson and Malik Sealy sidelined by injuries, the Lakers handed the Clippers their third consecutive loss, 106-100, Friday night before an announced crowd of 14,018 at the Sports Arena.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said after watching his club give away 23 turnovers. “We are toeless. We shot every toe we had on our foot off tonight.”

Forward Cedric Ceballos, who had missed the last two games with flu, scored 25 points as the Lakers won their fourth consecutive game to tie a season-high.

“It felt good,” said Ceballos, who made 11 of 17 shots. “I had a couple problems, coughing 20 times in a row and not being able to stop it. Other than that, I played well.”

Said Laker Coach Del Harris: “I thought he tired twice out there, in my opinion. That’s why I took him out in the end [with 4:22 remaining]. We had the lead.”

Guard Nick Van Exel, who had averaged 18.3 points in his last six games, had 23 points as the Lakers (21-17) beat the Clippers (15-23) for the second time in two meetings this season and the fourth time in the last five games.

The short-handed Clippers tied a season-low by scoring only 12 points in the third quarter and were outscored 18-8 in the final 8:11 of the third quarter as the Lakers took a 13-point lead into the final quarter. The Clippers shot 26.7% in the quarter.

“I thought we turned it up on defense,” Van Exel said. “Everybody was real active, helping out.”

Rookie Brent Barry and Terry Dehere started in the Clipper backcourt in place of Richardson and Sealy.

Richardson, who missed the first month of the season with a foot injury, has been bothered by a sore right calf. He hopes to return to practice next week.

The Clippers placed Sealy on the injured list with a broken right thumb before the game. Sealy, who had averaged 20 points and six rebounds in his last four games before he was injured in the second quarter of Wednesday night’s loss to the New York Knicks, is expected to be sidelined three to four weeks.

Dehere, who was starting his first game since Dec. 8, had 17 points, but only two in the second half.

“We played good in spurts, but in a game like this you can’t turn the ball over that much,” Dehere said.

Barry, who started 12 games while Richardson was sidelined, had two points before fouling out in his first start since Nov. 28.

“They’ll do better,” Fitch said. “They have to do better. We did good and bad at that spot, but we didn’t really have a firm hand out there to direct the traffic. The guards made some bad decisions going against that press.

“Like I told them [in the locker room], you can’t get by in this league with that type of decision making.”

The injuries to Sealy and Richardson meant more playing time for Eric Piatkowski, who has languished on the bench this season, averaging only 13.9 minutes per game.

Piatkowski, who has shot only 36.9% this season, made six of nine shots and scored a season-high 16 points in 26 minutes, which tied his season high.

The Clippers got a scare when center Brian Williams went down with an ankle injury with 8:41 left in the third quarter.

Williams, who had to be helped off the court, returned with 3:47 remaining in the quarter after having his ankle retaped. He finished with 16 points and eight rebounds.

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Laker-Clipper Notes

Clipper center Stanley Roberts, sidelined since Nov. 30 with a sprained ankle, was activated before the game, but did not play. Roberts, who has missed 176 games over the last three seasons because of injury, said he was fit. “The last three years have been pretty frustrating,” Roberts said. “This one is minor. You never get used to sitting out. That’s the most boring thing in the world.” . . . Center Brian Williams, who has averaged a career-high 33.6 minutes per game this season, figures to have his minutes reduced with the return of Roberts, who had averaged 5.3 points and 3.4 rebounds and 12.6 minutes in 11 games before he was injured. “Sometimes I feel like I’ve been playing bumper cars and I’ve been standing in the middle and everyone else was taking shots at me,” Williams said.

Coach Del Harris recently brought in a motivational speaker, Joaquim De Posada, to address the Laker players, something he did while coaching the Bucks and in Puerto Rico. “I’d like to have time to do more of it,” Harris said. “Athletes are part physical, part mental and part spiritual. You’ve got to address all sides to have a complete person.”