Chaney Attempts to Sell Clippers on Themselves : After Inspired 123-121 Loss to Denver, He Says His Team Can Make Playoffs

Only moments after the Clippers’ emotionally draining 123-121 loss to the Denver Nuggets Sunday night at the Sports Arena, Coach Don Chaney tried to sell his players on the theory that they can win all of their 18 remaining games if they exhibit the sustained effort he had just witnessed.

“I can guarantee a playoff spot if we play the way we played tonight,” Chaney said. “I can put it in writing. No one can beat us if we play with the effort we did tonight.”

Cedric Maxwell, the Clippers’ comedic forward, appreciated Chaney’s effort, but that didn’t mean he bought it. Maxwell, like the rest of the players has consulted the standings, so he realizes that the Clippers are five games behind Sacramento for the final Western Conference playoff spot with 18 to play.

Not impossible. But, as Maxwell says, not likely.

“That’s the same thing a used car salesman tells you,” Maxwell said. “It’s like he’s saying that this car has only been driven on Sunday and has only 10 miles on it. . . . A coach is always more optimistic, but it’s going to be real tough for us. We’ve probably got to win 15 out of 20 to make the playoffs now.”

Informed that the Clippers have 18, not 20, games left, Maxwell started laughing.

“Well, close the book on that theory, too,” Maxwell said. “We’ve just got to play hard and try to win as many as we can. It’s a desperate situation for the old Clippers now.”

If Maxwell was comparing Chaney to Cal Worthington, then the Clippers could be compared to a used car that runs well some days but sputters and dies other times.

All concerned felt that Sunday’s effort ranked with the Clippers’ best, certainly the most entertaining, of a season in which they have lost 41 of 64 games.

Refusing to fold even after the Nuggets built a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter, the Clippers gamely fought back but simply ran out of time, timeouts and ways to stop the Nuggets’ explosive offense.

Despite outstanding efforts from rookie center Benoit Benjamin (27 points, 16 rebounds, 3 blocked shots), Norm Nixon (25 points, including 5 three-point baskets) and Marques Johnson (25 points), the Clippers still were not able to prevent their seventh loss in eight games.

For the first three quarters, the Clippers could not stop Alex English, who padded his slim lead over Atlanta’s Dominique Wilkins for the NBA’s scoring title with 36 points. When English tired in the fourth quarter, scoring only two points, Mike Evans scored 14 of his 24 points in that quarter to keep the Nuggets from losing the lead.

It is Chaney’s belief that if the Nuggets had not played so well, the Clippers surely would have pulled this one out on sheer effort alone.

Unfortunately for the Clippers, effort did not translate into a victory mostly because the Nuggets gave just as much effort and augmented that with more talent.

After building a 13-point lead early in the fourth quarter behind scoring binges by Alex English and reserve guard Mike Evans, the Nuggets saw the Clippers systematically pound away at the margin until they had come to within 120-118 with 23 seconds left.

Two free throws by Evans extended Denver’s lead to 122-118 with 17 seconds left, forcing Chaney to call his last timeout. A play was set up for Norm Nixon, who had burned the Nuggets by sinking five three-point shots, but he missed a driving layup with 10 seconds left, seemingly assuring a Denver victory.

But Nugget forward Calvin Natt lost the ball, and it wound up in the hands of Lancaster Gordon just beyond the three-point barrier. Gordon made the desperation three-point shot to make it 122-121 with three seconds left.

The Clippers’ only hope was to foul a Nugget as soon as possible and hope he missed the free throws. Bill Hanzlik was fouled on the inbounds pass with two seconds left and made one free throw.

The problem, however, was that the Clippers did not have a timeout to take, so Maxwell took the ball out of the net and fired to Gordon at half court. The ball squirted out of Gordon’s grasp, as did a potential come-from-behind victory.

Usually, another Clipper loss diminishes fine individual performances. Sunday, however, a few stood out even in defeat:

--There was Benjamin, whose 27 points were a high in his brief career and 16 rebounds two short of equally his high in that department.

“Forget his stats, erase all that,” Chaney said. “Ben showed by far his best effort of the season. He was into the game mentally and physically.”

--Nixon, who has made 11 of his last 15 three-point field goal attempts. Nixon also passed for a season-high 18 assists and served as the catalyst on the Clippers’ suddenly effective fast-break, which lately has broken down fast.

“Hey, I’d give up all the three-pointers and points if we could just win and make the playoffs,” Nixon said. “Just get me into the playoffs. There’s no reason with just 19 games (18, actually) left that we can’t play with this effort all the time and try to make it. We’ll either die trying or get there.”

Clipper Notes

As usual, Denver forward Calvin Natt played an important part in the Nuggets’ win but went somewhat overlooked. Natt scored 24 points and had 11 rebounds, many rebounds coming in the fourth quarter.