Rory White Scores 29 as Hot Clippers Win

Rory White matched his career-high with 29 points to lead the Clippers to their fifth victory in their last six games, a 103-98 triumph over New Jersey at the Sports Arena Monday night.

The Clippers rallied from a 77-76 deficit after three quarters to take a 98-94 lead on two free throws by rookie center Benoit Benjamin with 2:29 left.

The Clippers saw their lead shrivel to 99-98 when Micheal Ray Richardson sank a 12-foot jumper with 54 seconds left.

Cedric Maxwell, who added 15 points for the Clippers, then sank two free throws 13 seconds later to put the Clippers up 101-98.

Albert King of the Nets missed a last-second, three-point try before Maxwell added two more free throws to provide the Clippers with their final margin.

Darryl Dawkins scored 22 points for the Nets, who also got 17 points from King and 16 more from Richardson.

Darnell Valentine added 14 points for Los Angeles.

The Nets, who have lost six of their last nine, led 27-21 after one quarter and the game was tied at 50 at halftime.

The Clippers were coming off a 40-point loss to Utah, and New Jersey a poor performance at Seattle.

Neither team played particularly well in the first half, and they went to the locker room at halftime tied, 50-50.

The Clippers’ biggest lead of the half came two minutes after the opening tipoff, when they sprinted to a 10-3 start. The Nets led by as many as eight points with 2:24 left in the first quarter on a reverse layup by Darryl Dawkins.

By the end of the quarter, though, New Jersey settled for a 27-21 lead. The difference, at that point, was in rebounding, as the Nets held a 14-6 advantage.

The Nets’ lead proved to be short-lived. The Clippers scored the first six points of the second quarter to tie it, 27-27, and neither team led by more than four points the rest of the half.

White led the Clippers with 20 first-half points, only nine short of his career high. With Marques Johnson slowed by a sore right hip, it was up to White to assume the scoring load. No other Clipper had more than six points. White didn’t exactly overpower the Nets inside. But he masterfully hit short jump shots and manuevered well underneath.

Albert King, who had trouble guarding White, led New Jersey with 11 first-half points. Dawkins added 10 points off the bench. Buck Williams continued his unusually mediocre play of late by scoring only three points. But Williams did lead the Nets in rebounding with six.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers have asked injured guard Derek Smith to get a second opinion from another doctor--probably Dr. William Curran in San Diego--concerning the cartilage in his left knee. It has been 10 1/2 weeks since Smith had undergone arthroscopic surgery, and Coach Don Chaney said he doesn’t expect Smith back until after the All-Star break (Feb. 11). “I really don’t know what to do about getting another player (on a 10-day contract),” General Manager Carl Scheer said. “I was looking for Derek to come back, but I trust that he knows his condition. But I also have complete trust in (team doctor) Tony Daly. It’s just taken him a long time to come back.” . . . The Western Conference coach voted for the remaining spots for the All-Star Game on Feb. 9. The selection will be announced today and the Clippers’ Marques Johnson is expected to make the team . . . Darnell Valentine has changed uniform numbers from 15 to 1.