LOS ANGELES (AP) -Al Thornton had 23 points and 11 rebounds, rookie Eric Gordon scored 12 of his 17 points in the fourth quarter after getting into early foul trouble, and the Los Angeles Clippers beat FC Barcelona 114-109 in an exhibition game on Sunday as part of the annual Staples Shootout.
Ersan Ilyasova scored 20 points and Jaka Lakovic added 19 for Barcelona, which lost 108-104 to the Lakers on Saturday night. Juan Carlos Navarro, the only player on the team who participated at the Beijing Olympics when Spain won the silver medal, had 11 points in 29 minutes after getting 34 points in 41 minutes against countryman and former Memphis Grizzlies teammate Pau Gasol.
Barcelona’s Fran Vasquez fouled out with 9:08 left in the game and teammate Daniel Santiago did likewise with 3:32 left.
Kaman, who got the rest of the day off from coach Mike Dunleavy with three more exhibition games coming up at Staples Center in the next five nights.
Brian Skinner, beginning his second tour of duty with the Clippers after spending last season with Phoenix, made his second start of the preseason and had four points in 12 minutes.
Gordon, the Clippers’ first-round draft pick, hit consecutive 3-pointers 40 seconds apart to give them a 102-93 lead with 7:18 to play. Lakovic and Lubos Barton responded with 3-point baskets 36 seconds apart, narrowing the gap to 102-100 with 5:03 left.
Gordon hit a pair of layups and 3-point specialist Steve Novak connected from behind the arc, giving Los Angeles a 109-100 lead with 1:27 remaining. Ilyasova rallied Barcelona with nine points in a 43-second span, including a dunk off an alley-oop pass from Barton to cut it to 111-109 with 29 seconds to go. But Cuttino Mobley’s two free throws helped seal the win for the Clippers.
Los Angeles led by as many as 15 points after Mobley’s three-point play gave the Clippers a 74-59 lead with 10:33 left in the third quarter. Barcelona cut it to 85-83 on a 3-pointer by Lakovic with 36 seconds left in the quarter.
Thornton and Davis powered the Clippers to a 67-59 halftime lead with 14 points each.
five points and four assists in 15 minutes for Barcelona. The former Seton Hall standout played only 25 minutes in four games with Los Angeles, recording six points and seven assists.
Barrett is one of four players on this FC Barcelona squad with NBA experience, along with Navarro, Ersan Ilyasova and Daniel Santiago. He spent most of last season with the Bakersfield Jam of the Development League before the Clippers signed the 5-foot-10 guard to a 10-day contract on March 1.
“At the time, we thought he was the best guy available,” Dunleavy said. “He was solid. He played hard and gave us a great effort. But obviously, from our standpoint, he wasn’t in a position to make it with us.
“All those guys who are close to making our level, if they’re able to get guaranteed money in Europe – for the most part – that’s what they’re going to do for their family and their livelihood,” Dunleavy added. “Hopefully, they’ll play well enough and put up enough numbers to get noticed, and somebody says `OK, we’ll guarantee you some money here.”’
FC Balcelona is now 1-4 against NBA teams since 1989, when they lost to Denver in the McDonald’s Championship at Rome. Their only victory against an NBA club was in October 2006, when they beat Philadelphia 104-99. As per the custom at games between teams from different countries, the Clippers exchanged gifts with the Barcelona players moments before tipoff.
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