Nimphius Plays Well, but Clippers Still Lose

There were times during Wednesday night’s game when Kurt Nimphius wandered around the court not knowing where he was supposed to position himself in the Clippers’ offense. Instincts, more than anything, got Nimphius by in his debut with his new team.

But when the Clippers made a stab in the final seconds to extend the Houston Rockets into overtime, Nimphius knew exactly where to be. He planted himself under the basket and waited to see if Marques Johnson’s jumper would fall or if the Clippers’ hopes would fall.

Johnson missed, but Nimphius beat Akeem Olajuwon to the rebound. His follow shot was just starting its decline when Olajuwon swatted it away. Goaltending was called, and the Clippers succeeded in sending the game to overtime.

Once there, though, they were unable to match the Rockets and were beaten, 137-130.

Despite the usual disappointment of a loss, a Sports Arena crowd of 7,512 quickly discovered that Nimphius’ instincts more than compensated for his unfamiliarity with his new team following Monday’s trade that sent James Donaldson to Dallas. His performance--18 points, 12 rebounds and 4 blocked shots--was uplifting to Coach Don Chaney.

“I’ve got to give him credit,” Chaney said. “He had about 30 minutes of practice and proved he was ready.”

To Houston coach Bill Fitch, having Nimphius out of the Midwest Division is a relief.

“Hell, I would’ve gone down to Dallas and carried Nimphius piggy-back myself if I could have gotten him,” Fitch said. “So don’t knock him. He’s a karate expert.”

The Clippers aren’t asking Nimphius to wear his black belt on the court. But they need a center who can take control. Although 6-10 and not a true center, Nimphius didn’t back down to either Olajuwon or Ralph Sampson.

Another enticing thought to the Clippers was this: If Nimphius could play this well without knowing the offense, it figures that he’ll be a regular contributor soon and perhaps send obviously inexperienced Benoit Benjamin back to the bench.

Then again, maybe Nimphius was at an advantage not knowing what to do.

“I just got the hell out of the way and tried to find an open spot most of the time,” Nimphius said. “I only learned the plays 40 minutes before the game and I only know two. I need a couple practices. I did feel like I was running around with my head cut off.”

If that’s so, he certainly fooled some people. It was Nimphius, Cedric Maxwell (27 points) and Marques Johnson (23) who enabled the Clippers to offset Akeem Olajuwon’s 36-point assault and push the Rockets (12-5) to overtime before unraveling like an well-worn sock.

Shots were falling or fouls were called every conceivable way for Maxwell, and he knew it had to be his night when he actually got an offensive rebound while lying flat on his back near the basket.

In overtime, though, Maxwell missed three shots that might have kept the Clippers close. But other Clippers also couldn’t hit and Houston had a 11-0 run in the extra period to clinch the win.

Nimphius clearly played better than Benjamin, who had five points and again was not a factor. And, although Nimphius didn’t score in overtime and fouled out with 1:11 left, he was one of the main factors in sending it to an extra period.

A chance to send the game to overtime seemed a distant hope for the Clippers in the final two minutes, but they staged a furious finish that surprised the Rockets and probably even themselves.

The Clippers did it by outscoring Houston, 6-2, in the last 1:20. It was surprising that Olajuwon chose to block the shot instead of letting the ball continue its flight.

Nimphius said Olajuwon, who had seven blocked shots, had no other choice.

“I thought for sure the ball was going in,” he said.

In any event, the Clippers had tied it, 120-120, and Houston regrouped for a last-second shot to avoid overtime, but Allen Leavell was unable to get it off before the buzzer sounded.

“In the history of the world, that was the fastest two seconds ever,” Fitch said.

Down, 119-114, with 1:34 left, the Clippers saw their hopes rise when Sampson fouled out. Fourteen seconds later, Maxwell sank two free throws to cut the margin to three points. After a Houston turnover, Rory White followed a Nimphius miss to make it 119-118.

John Lucas’ free throw made it 120-118, and the Clippers set up for the shot that would send it to overtime.

Clipper Notes

When the Clippers traded for Kurt Nimphius Monday, they received more than just a backup center. Nimphius brought along his two pet cockatoos, which caused some problems. It seems the hotel in which Nimphius was to reside would not allow pets. So, he has rented an apartment in Marina del Rey. . . . Incidentally, Nimphius’ birds are named Sheva and Sufi, named for two Eastern philosophies that Nimphius studies. . . . James Donaldson had nine points and 12 rebounds in his first game with Dallas. . . . After Ralph Sampson scored two points Sunday in Portland, Robert Falkoff of the Houston Post wrote that Sampson “has displayed neither the body to be compared to (Wilt) Chamberlain nor the heart to be compared with (Kareem) Abdul-Jabbar.” Sampson said he wasn’t bothered by the commentary because he didn’t read it. . . . Jamaal Wilkes worked out about an hour before game time Wednesday night, but he’s still a few games away from being activated.