SHAUN LIVINGSTON
               NEWS

Gerald Wallace had 23 points, eight assists and six rebounds, Jason Richardson added 20 points and the Charlotte Bobcats beat the undermanned Los Angeles Clippers 107-100 on Monday night.

Emeka Okafor had 14 points and nine rebounds for the Bobcats, who won on the road for only the fourth time in 17 tries this season despite going the final 5:13 without a field goal. Their other three road victories were at Miami, Boston and Chicago.

Tim Thomas had a season-high 29 points and 13 rebounds for the Clippers, who were missing two of their best players.

Center Chris Kaman, the NBA's third-leading rebounder and shot blocker, sat out his second straight game because of a bruised left shin. Corey Maggette, the team's leading scorer, was sidelined by flulike symptoms. As a result, embattled Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy was forced to use his 19th different starting lineup.

Josh Powell, playing for his fourth team in three seasons, started for the fifth time in 98 NBA games and first time at center just three days after his 25th birthday. The 6-foot-9 North Carolina State product had 12 points and six rebounds in 35 minutes.

Rookie Al Thornton started in Corey Maggette's small forward spot, getting eight points, six assists and three rebounds in 20 minutes before fouling out for the first time in his NBA career with 6:46 remaining.

Thornton and Powell each got their fifth foul with more than 8 minutes to play, and the Bobcats extended a 12-point lead to 99-80 with a 9-2 spurt capped by Wallace's three-point play. Thornton picked up his sixth foul trying to prevent Wallace's layup, and the Los Angeles Clippers got no closer than five points on Quinton Ross' two free throws with 22.5 seconds to go.

The Bobcats never trailed in the opener of a five-game road trip. They increased their 10-point halftime lead to 73-53 as Raymond Felton hit a pair of 3-pointers 42 seconds apart to cap a 14-2 run with 7:41 left in the third quarter.

Charlotte made seven of 16 shots from behind the arc. Richardson, who set a record for the fourth-year expansion team with seven 3-pointers in Saturday's loss to Philadelphia, made only one trey.

Powell equaled Okafor's 10 points and five rebounds through the first 21 1/2 minutes, but the Bobcats pulled out to a 53-39 lead with a 12-4 spurt capped by Wallace' 3-pointer with 3:45 left in the first half.

During one brief stretch early in the second quarter, the Clippers went with a unit consisting of Thornton, Powell, Aaron Williams and guards Brevin Knight and Dan Dickau - none of whom came in averaging double digits in points.

Notes:@ The Bobcats made their first visit to Staples Center since Oct. 20, when F Adam Morrison tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee during a preseason loss to the Lakers. He underwent season-ending surgery three weeks later. ... This was the first time the Clippers hosted the Bobcats since Feb. 26, 2007, when point guard Shaun Livingston landed awkwardly on a missed layup attempt and dislocated his left knee cap. He is still recovering from the reconstructive surgery he had in mid-March. ... The Clippers were 0-for-8 from 3-point range, the third game this season in which they were blanked in that department. They beat Minnesota and Phoenix at home in the other two contests despite going 0-for-14 and 0-for-6, respectively. ... Felton had 10 points and eight assists after missing Saturday's game with a sprained left ankle.

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