CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- When Elton Brand saw most of Charlotte's

big men in street clothes, he knew he was in for a big night.

Brand took advantage of the Bobcats' depleted roster with 38

points and 20 rebounds Friday night to help the Los Angeles

Clippers pound their way to a 97-88 victory over Charlotte.

"They were missing some legs and we took it to them, just

worked them over inside and out," Brand said. "They were

undersized, but we don't feel sorry for anyone."

Chris Kaman added 22 points and a career-high 22 rebounds for

the Clippers, who snapped a five-game road losing streak by

dominating the boards and grabbing every loose ball possible. It

got to the point where Kaman was fighting Brand -- not the Bobcats --

for rebounds.

"I was trying to get to 25 but Elton kept taking them all,"

Kaman said. "Elton started going crazy and blocking shots and

taking my rebounds. So I was a little bit upset with him. We're not

on good terms."

Brand and Kaman became the first teammates to go for 30/20 and

20/20 in the same game since Willis Reed and Dave DeBusschere did

it in 1970 with the New York Knicks.

The Bobcats came into the game as winners of three of their last

four despite a depleted roster. It caught up to them against the

Clippers, when the absence of Emeka Okafor (ankle), Sean May (knee)

and center Jake Voskuhl (ankle) left them unable to compete under

the basket.

The Clippers outrebounded Charlotte 57-37 and scored 56 points

in the paint. No Bobcat had more than six rebounds.

"They didn't have a lot of size and they tried to go small on

us and make us blink," said Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy. "We

tried to stay big and make them blink, and our bigs did a great

job."

Although forward Melvin Ely returned after missing three games

with the flu, he was too weak to put up much of a defense on Brand.

He played just 19 minutes and finished with eight points and three

rebounds.

"When you get caught with just two bigs, that's a recipe for

disaster," Ely said. "We just got caught short-handed."

Brevin Knight led Charlotte with 21 points and Primoz Brezec had

20. Raymond Felton, starting his fourth game in a two point guard

lineup because all the injuries, struggled on 2-of-10 shooting. He

had four points.

Los Angeles had leads of up to 17 points, but saw Charlotte cut

it to 91-86 late in the game. But Brand ended any chance of a

comeback by completely taking over the game.

He made a layup with 1:49 to play, then after a Charlotte miss,

he got the rebound and was fouled by Bernard Robinson. Brand went

to the line and made a pair of free throws, then hit another jumper

to make it 97-86.

Charlotte had a similar rally in the third quarter, cutting it

to 66-61, only to see the Clippers come roaring back with an 11-3

run behind rookie Yaroslav Korolev, who dunked to start the run and

score his first NBA points.

"I never thought my first two points would be a dunk," Korolev

said, as teammates around him began calling him "The Dunking

Russian."

Korolev also made a 20-foot jumper and added a 3-pointer to

finish with seven points -- the only bench points of the entire game

for the Clippers.

Game Notes
The officials are apparently still getting used to the

setup at Charlotte's new arena. Late in the first half, referee Jim

Clark yelled into the crowd to a Bobcats' consultant that he

couldn't easily locate team fouls on the scoreboard. ... Ely, who

spent his rookie season with the Clippers, was scrambling to secure

tickets for his family before the game. With at least eight

relatives in town for the holiday, Ely was almost begging his

teammates for extras. ... Dallas Cowboys receiver Keyshawn Johnson,

in town for Saturday's game against the Panthers, sat courtside and

received a thundering boo when introduced. NFL sideline reporter

Pam Oliver, seated about a dozen seats away, got a much warmer

welcome.