Elton Brand scored 33 points and the Los Angeles Clippers spoiled the return of Denver center Marcus Camby with a 105-87 victory Friday night that snapped the Nuggets’ seven-game winning streak.
Camby was rusty in his first game since Dec. 27, a day after he broke his right pinkie finger, and the Nuggets, who had won 11 of 15 games without him, were off-target all night at the Pepsi Center, getting outscored 49-32 in the second half.
Camby had five points and 10 rebounds in 23 minutes.
Sam Cassell added 25 points for Los Angeles and sparked a 22-6 third-quarter run that put the Clippers in control, and Chris Kaman had 16 points and 13 rebounds. The teams meet Saturday night for a rematch at the Staples Center.
Camby was off to the best start of his nine-year career before the finger injury, averaging 16.3 points, 12.9 rebounds and 3.1 blocks. He still hopes to make the all-star team and has five more games to make an impression, but his bigger wish was not to mess up the good chemistry the Nuggets had developed in his absence.
The Nuggets lost their first two games without Camby but turned it around in January, going 11-2 until Friday night on the strength of their forward combination of Carmelo Anthony and Kenyon Martin.
Anthony scored 25 points against the Clippers but only six in the second half, and Martin added 16, but six of those came after the outcome was decided and courtside fans had left the arena in disgust.
The Clippers took a 56-54 lead into the locker room after shooting 60 percent in the first half and closed the third quarter with a 22-6 run to take an 80-66 lead. Brand led the way with nine points in the spurt and Cassell had seven, including a 3-pointer that erased a 60-58 deficit and started the surge.
The Nuggets never mounted a serious challenge after that.
Brand scored the Clippers’ first 14 points, making all six of his shots from the field and both of his free throws, before he ended his streak by dishing to Kaman for a basket with 6:16 left in the first quarter.
Camby got a rousing ovation when he entered the game for Francisco Elson with 4:23 left in the first but quickly showed the rust from missing a month. Although he grabbed three rebounds, he missed all three of his shots in the quarter, including an airball and an errant 5-foot turnaround jumper.
Even Camby’s best play didn’t count. After a Denver airball, Cassell spread his arms and waited for the ball to bounce out of bounds. Instead, Camby swooped in over his right shoulder and flung it off Cassell’s chest, but the great play was negated by a 24-second shot clock violation.
Brand finished the first quarter with 16 points and a rejection of Earl Boykins’ shot at the buzzer.
Clippers coach Mike Dunleavy said he expects forward Corey Maggette will have the cast removed from his left foot Tuesday. Maggette, averaging 21.7 points, has a sprained ligament and has played in only 13 games this season. … Clippers backup center Zeljko Rebraca will be held out two to three weeks as a precaution after he experienced chest pains during warm-ups before Los Angeles’ win over New Jersey on Wednesday night.