Brand Gets Fill of Thanksgiving Before Game

Elton Brand was thankful his mother, Daisy, served Thanksgiving dinner early Thursday.

“I know we’re playing a game and it’s serious business and all that, but I’ve got to eat,” said Brand, the Clippers’ power forward. “Mom’s smart. She had dinner at 11:45 this morning, so I could digest it by game time. It was Thanksgiving lunch.”

Several of Brand’s teammates weren’t as fortunate, arriving at Staples Center before the Clippers’ game against the New Jersey Nets without having a traditional holiday meal.

“Everybody else came in complaining because they didn’t get a chance to eat,” Brand said. “But I got to eat.”

Brand was thankful for more than simply a big meal and a chance to gather with members of his family and friends.

“We’ve got a chance to be .500 tonight,” he said, referring to the Clippers improving to 6-6 if they defeated the Nets. “When I was with the Bulls last Thanksgiving, I don’t know if we had won a game yet.”

The Bulls, who traded Brand to the Clippers during the off-season, were 15-67 last season.

TONIGHT

at Utah

6 PST, Fox Sports Net 2

Site--Delta Center.

Radio--KXTA (1150).

Records--Clippers 5-7, Jazz 4-8.

Record vs. Jazz (2000-01)--0-4.

Update--The Jazz has a 10-game winning streak against the Clippers and has won 24 consecutive against them at Salt Lake City. The Clippers’ last victory was April 18, 1989. To put that in perspective, Clipper forward Darius Miles was a 7-year-old when the Clippers won, 95-92, at the Salt Palace. The Jazz has lost three of four, including a 90-89 overtime defeat Wednesday by the Nets. Utah’s Karl Malone got into a shoving match with New Jersey Coach Byron Scott after a scuffle broke out on the court. Malone later belittled Scott’s contributions to the Lakers’ championship teams of the 1980s. Malone has never won an NBA championship.