With just minutes to spare before the midnight deadline, the Los Angeles Clippers decided to use the amnesty clause on backup small forward Ryan Gomes, the team announced late Tuesday. Gomes had one year and $4 million left on his contract.

Gomes arrived in Los Angeles in 2010 and started for most of his first season, but he fell out of the rotation last year after the Clippers acquired Caron Butler in free agency. Gomes saw his minutes sliced in half, and he only ended up playing in 32 games. He averaged just 2.3 points and 1.9 rebounds per game.

The late move by the Clippers means that exactly half of the teams in the NBA have used the amnesty clause since it was implemented in the new collective bargaining agreement. Eight teams used it this season after seven used it before last season. The seven other players released this season are Brendan Haywood, Luis Scola, Darko Milicic, Elton Brand, Josh Childress, Andray Blatche and Chris Andersen.

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