A Real Veteran Matchup

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch, the NBA’s fourth-winningest coach with 907 victories in 24 seasons, faced Denver Nugget Coach Dick Motta, the NBA’s third-winningest coach with 926 wins in 25 seasons, in Friday night’s 114-111 Clipper victory.

Fitch, 62, and Motta, 65, are the two oldest coaches in the NBA, but they don’t have a rivalry.

“I won’t even look down there [at Motta],” Fitch said before the game. “I know his team will be well coached, a lot like ours. We have more fun when we’re not playing each other than when we’re playing each other.”

Said Motta: “I enjoy visiting with him. I respect him. I don’t like to go against his teams. The majority of times you don’t think about who you’re coaching against unless you go against somebody that you’ve coached, like [Jerry] Sloan.”

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Fitch hopes center Stanley Roberts, who went on the injured list last month because of a ruptured disk in his lower back, will return soon. Roberts has been practicing without pain for a week.