The Old Marques Johnson Returns : But It’s Too Late to Help Clippers in 111-87 Loss to Bucks

He already had tried virtually everything else to break out of what has been almost a season-long slump, so Marques Johnson figured that perhaps the familiar surroundings of Milwaukee would change things.

It was during his seven seasons here that Johnson blossomed into one of the National Basketball Assn.’s best small forwards and helped make the Bucks perennial contenders. But since his trade to the Clippers, along with Junior Bridgeman and Harvey Catchings, it’s as if an imposter has been wearing Johnson’s uniform.

It may have come a little late Thursday night, but the real Johnson finally showed up in the third quarter of the Clippers’ sixth-straight loss, a 111-87 setback to Milwaukee before a sellout crowd of 11,052 at the Mecca Arena.

With the Clippers trailing by 28 points midway through the third quarter, Johnson led a 16-0 Clipper surge by simply dominating anyone who dared guard him. He scored 11 of the points, had four rebounds and passed for an assist in what seemed like a time warp to many in the crowd.

By the end of the quarter, Johnson had 15 points, the Bucks 12.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, they had played so badly in the first half that their impressive run hardly made a dent in Milwaukee’s lead. The closest the Clippers could come in the fourth quarter was 11 points, and the Bucks eventually pulled away again for their ninth-straight win.

Guard Sidney Moncrief led the Bucks with 21 points, while Terry Cummings (20) and Paul Pressey (17 and 12 rebounds) also contributed. Johnson had 21 and Bridgeman and Derek Smith 20 apiece for the Clippers.

If there was a highlight in the Clippers’ defeat, which dropped their record to 14-20 and kept them in fifth place in the Pacific Division, it was Johnson’s rousing second-half performance. After being held to four points in the first half, he finished with 21 and nine rebounds in 36 minutes.

One half, of course, does not constitute breaking out of a slump. But for Johnson, who has been hampered by a broken finger early in the season and a strained left hamstring recently, it was a start.

“Maybe he (Johnson) needed to come back here to get it going,” Bridgeman said. “I don’t know. He started to play really well tonight. It was just a matter of time.”

Said Johnson: “I thought about that, too. I think I’ve gotten over the hump now. For the first time in a long while, I felt in the flow of the game. I felt the best I have in a long time.”

Johnson’s point total was the most he’s scored since Dec. 5 in Dallas, when he had 24 before suffering the hamstring injury. He will get two quick chances to build on Thursday’s performance since the Clippers play tonight in Kansas City and conclude the trip Saturday night in Denver.

“Playing Kansas City will be nothing compared to this,” Johnson said.

He was referring not only to the fact that the Kings are at the bottom of the Central Division, but also to the self-imposed pressure he felt coming back to Milwaukee Thursday night for the first time since the trade.

“It was hard for me to focus in on the game right away,” he said. “There were too many outside things. TV interviews, meeting old friends. But the fans here are great. It was very touching that the fans gave myself, Junior and Harvey that ovation (during introductions).”

By halftime, however, the fans had to be wondering if those were the same players they had seen in Buck uniforms all those years. Johnson shot only 2 of 8 in the first half and Bridgeman 2 of 7 as the Bucks opened a 29-point lead.

A quick glance at the first-half shooting percentages gives the reason why the Bucks were able to so dominate the half. Whereas Milwaukee made 61.2%, the Clippers shot only 34.1% The Bucks also outrebounded the Clippers, 28-19.

The way the Bucks were playing in the first 24 minutes, it appeared as if the Clippers were headed for their most lopsided defeat this season. Pressey had 14 first-half points (on 6-of-6 shooting), Craig Hodges (6 of 7) and Moncrief (6 of 9) 12 each, and former UCLA forward Kenny Field 10 (5 of 6).

Incredible as it seems, there was actually garbage time in the first half as Bucks Coach Don Nelson substituted freely.

“I was embarrassed,” Bridgeman said.

But the Clippers’ embarrassment was tempered somewhat by the second-half comeback. Johnson began the surge with 6:03 left with a twisting drive, added had a layup off a Smith pass and then dunked off the fastbreak.

After a Buck timeout, Johnson fed Smith for a layup, then made one free throw and scored off a lob from Bill Walton. The Clippers’ run ended with 1:03 left after a Walton dunk and a 20-foot jumper by Johnson.

“It was frustrating,” Johnson said. “We played so hard and and made up so many points, and I look at the scoreboard and we’re still down by 14. But I guess that’s a lot better than 28 or 30 points. I felt we had a chance to get closer, but we ran out of gas in the fourth quarter.”