Sonics Hand Clippers Their 7th Straight Loss

The Clippers have traded away enough players to stock a pretty good National Basketball Assn. team. Or at least one that’s good enough to beat the current edition of the Clippers.

Let’s see: There’s Bill Walton, Derek Smith, Terry Cummings, Rickey Pierce, Byron Scott . . .

And Tom Chambers, another player the Clippers traded away, came back to beat them Tuesday night.

Chambers scored 32 points, and teammate Dale Ellis had a career-high 35 as the Seattle SuperSonics defeated the Clippers, 113-103, before a sparse crowd of 4,702 at the Seattle Coliseum. The Clippers (3-10) have lost seven straight, going 14 days without a win.

“The Clippers could have been one of the top teams if they’d kept their players,” said Chambers, who played for the Clippers in 1981-83. He was traded to Seattle along with Al Wood for James Donaldson, Mark Radford, Greg Kelser and a first-round draft pick in 1984.

The rap against Chambers used to be that he was a selfish player, but all that seems to have changed.

Chambers had 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 3 steals as the SuperSonics beat the Clippers to win their second straight game.

Chambers made 11 of 21 shots and 10 of 12 free throws in 37 minutes.

“He’s been very unselfish,” Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “I think Tom has matured with the responsibility of being one of our leaders and team captains.

“And he’s even smiling on the court. I think Maurice Lucas has been a positive influence on him.”

Said Lucas, the former Laker: “He’s looking to pass more. We’re getting more out of him.”

Clipper Coach Don Chaney wasn’t one of Chambers’ biggest fans, but he has changed his mind.

“I didn’t like him a few years ago. I didn’t think he was playing to his full potential,” Chaney said. “But Chambers is playing well. He’s really in a groove.”

The SuperSonics (7-5), are off to their best start in four years, winning four of their last five games. And Chambers is one of the reasons Seattle is hot.

Chambers has scored 32, 35, 35, 27 and 38 points in his last five games.

The emergence of Chambers coincides with the trade of guard Gerald Henderson to the New York Knicks Nov. 12. Henderson and Chambers didn’t get along, and Chambers publicly criticized Henderson for being too selfish and not passing the ball enough.

“I’m glad the trade was made because we could be one of the top teams in the conference,” Chambers said. “I’m not saying I’m glad to get rid of Gerald, but the trade has helped to pull the guys together. Our chemistry is better since he left.”

Clipper Notes The Clippers’ Marques Johnson said he is going to get several more medical opinions before deciding whether to undergo surgery to fuse two vertebrae in his neck. “I’m pondering it right now. This is my career,” Johnson said from his home in Bel-Air. “I’m going to take my time and get a couple of other opinions from other doctors. I might go out of town just to get another opinion. It’s not that I don’t trust Dr. (Tony) Daly, I just want to get some other opinions. It will probably be another couple of weeks before I decide what to do. It depends what the experts say.” . . . Clipper Coach Don Chaney was surprised to find out that the team has offered a contract to Quintin Dailey. “It was news to me,” Chaney said. “A reporter told me we had offered him a contract before the game,” Chaney said.