Dooling Gives Gentry Guarded Optimism

Backup guard Keyon Dooling’s best game since he sprained his right ankle more than a year ago was pivotal to the Clippers’ victory Sunday over the Houston Rockets. Dooling scored 18 points on eight-for-10 shooting in 23 minutes.

“If we were going to give away a game ball today, we would definitely give it to him,” Coach Alvin Gentry said. “He made some great shots for us and he also turned up our defensive pressure.”

While starting point guard Andre Miller continues to play with varying degrees of effectiveness, it would be a huge boost for Gentry if Dooling were to play with the sort of confidence and effectiveness he displayed Sunday.

Miller had 15 points on six-for-13 shooting and had eight assists and five rebounds in 42 minutes. Marko Jaric, averaging 3.6 points and shooting 27.6%, did not play for the first time this season.

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With centers Michael Olowokandi and Sean Rooks in foul trouble in the second quarter, Gentry had no choice but to play Wang Zhizhi against Yao Ming in a much-anticipated matchup of Chinese players.

Wang missed all three shots in 11 minutes and Yao had four points on one-for-four shooting in 28 minutes.

Olowokandi was impressed with Yao’s play.

“He’s nimble for a big guy,” he said. “He’s a better athlete than I thought he was in terms of moving his feet. He has a good touch. He was shooting free throws on the technical fouls too.”

Said Wang of Yao, who had a 30-point, 16-rebound game last week against the Dallas Mavericks: “Yao played well, but we stepped up the defense on him as a team. Yao plays a great game and he is going to have his time in the NBA.”

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The Clippers will serve Thanksgiving meals to families at the Bread & Roses Cafe in Venice at 11 this morning as part of their Teamwork at the Table holiday program. They also will hand out food and clothing at St. Joseph’s Center at 12:30.