Los Angeles, CA (My Sportsbook) - The New Orleans Hornets try for their seventh straight win when they travel to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers at Staples Center.

New Orleans is currently the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, percentage points behind the fifth-seeded Boston Celtics. The Hornets are five games behind the top-seeded New Jersey Nets and 3 1/2 games ahead of the seventh- seeded Orlando Magic.

The Hornets are coming off a 97-92 win over the Phoenix Suns, which gave New Orleans a 2-0 start to the current three-game road trip. New Orleans will play five of its next seven games on the road, where it is 12-18 this season.

Jamal Mashburn continued his solid play against Phoenix. Mashburn scored 23 points and grabbed nine rebounds against the Suns. P.J. Brown scored 12 points and grabbed 19 rebounds in the win, helping the Hornets to earn a 56-33 edge on the boards.

The Hornets have outrebounded 14 straight opponents.

"We've been doing that consistently after the All-Star break, and we're really continuing to eat the glass," said Mashburn. "That's a part of defense itself when the other team doesn't get the opportunity to score."

New Orleans is 14-11 against Western Conference foes.

Los Angeles has dropped five straight and 11 of its last 13 games. The Clippers are coming off a 109-101 setback to the Seattle SuperSonics. Corey Maggette led LA with 17 points while Andre Miller chipped in with 15 points in the losing effort.

Elton Brand has missed three straight games with what was initially believed to be a deep bone bruise in the lower left leg. As it turns out, he has a stress fracture and is sidelined indefinitely. At some point, Brand could chose to play through the pain, but with the Clippers as far out of the postseason picture as they are it hardly seems worth it. In addition, the club did not sign Brand to a long-term deal this season, and he's a free agent this summer.

"It's one of those things," Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said when asked about Brand's injury. "I'm not going to get into whether he'll be ready for this game or that game. It's one of those things where it will depend on how much pain he can tolerate."

The Clippers are 11-20 at home and have an 8-14 mark against teams from the Eastern Conference.

Los Angeles won the first meeting of the season at New Orleans.