A One-in-a-Dozen Win for Clippers : 101-94 Victory Over Seattle Stops Losing Streak at 12

The Clippers finally got the monkey off their backs, winning their first game in a month Wednesday night. Coach Don Chaney’s injury-depleted team ended its 12-game losing streak with a 101-94 victory over the Seattle SuperSonics before 5,573 fans at the Sports Arena.

Asked how it felt to win a game for the first time in 30 days, forward Cedric Maxwell said: “Like a guy getting out of prison after 20 years and seeing his wife waiting at the gates. It’s a tremendous relief.”

It was the first victory since Nov. 11 for the shorthanded Clippers (4-15), who because of injuries had just 10 players. Starting center Benoit Benjamin and point guard Larry Drew sat on the bench in street clothes, nursing a sore right knee and a hamstring injury, respectively.

“It feels like a 1,000-pound weight has been lifted from my shoulders,” Chaney said with a smile after his team had broken its longest losing streak since moving from San Diego to Los Angeles in 1984. Owner Donald Sterling, General Manager Elgin Baylor and team President Alan Rothenberg congratulated Chaney after the game.

“We really doubted whether we could win another game,” Chaney said. “But I’m a very optimistic person and I never doubted that we would win.

“This was a good win for a lot of reasons. We had found ways of losing in our last two games, but we stayed tough tonight. And we had a fantastic effort defensively. I think that was the key.

“It’s important to win a game against a team that is playing well. And Seattle was playing as good as any team in the league. We forced them to take bad shots and we were able to get a rebound now and then.”

Guard Mike Woodson led the Clippers with 26 points, 16 in the first half, and sank four free throws in the last 2 minutes 40 seconds to help clinch the win.

“I think I’m going to sleep a lot easier tonight,” said Woodson, who played 30 minutes. “It’s a big relief. . . . You begin to start doubting yourself when you get in a long losing streak. But tonight we seemed hungrier.”

Forward Michael Cage added 18 points and grabbed 11 rebounds in 43 minutes.

“We kept our heads up during the streak because we knew we could do it,” Cage said. “We were without our big fella (Benjamin), but we played a solid game and we deserved it. We wanted it.”

Maxwell had 7 points and 11 rebounds.

“You think about it (the losing streak) every day,” Maxwell said “It’s such a beautiful day in California and we’re on a 12-game losing streak. I’m in the best place to play basketball and we’ve lost 12 in a row. But that’s over for tonight and tomorrow because we’ve got a one-game winning streak.”

Reserve forward Kenny Fields had his best game as a Clipper, scoring 14 points in 16 minutes. Backup point guard Darnell Valentine added 12 points.

Seattle (10-8) had won three straight on the road and was coming off a 56-point blowout win over Houston last Saturday night.

“It’s not what you have done, but it’s what you have done today,” Seattle Coach Bernie Bickerstaff said. “You have to give the Clippers credit. They did a nice job. They made the shots when they had to and they got some boards when they had to.”

Tom Chambers led Seattle with 28 points and 8 rebounds. Chambers, an ex-Clipper, had scored 32 points against his former club in a 113-103 SuperSonic win Nov. 25 at Seattle.

“I’m very displeased,” Chambers said of Wednesday night’s outcome. “We have been playing pretty well and we should have beaten this team.”

Dale Ellis added 22 points for Seattle, and Xavier McDaniel had 20 points and 14 rebounds in 43 minutes. Center Alton Lister had 5 points and 12 rebounds before fouling out after playing 33 minutes.

The Clippers led from start to finish. Woodson had 14 in the first period as the Clippers built a 33-23 lead. They led at halftime, 49-40, and at the end of the third period, 78-67.

But Seattle, which trailed by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, cut the Clipper lead to to 91-89 with 3:43 left when Ellis scored on a drive.

However, the Clippers didn’t fold. They scored six straight points and pulled away.

Clipper Notes Clipper President Alan Rothenberg said that he expects guard Quintin Dailey to sign with the Clippers today. “He was supposed to play Wednesday night (with Jacksonville of the Continental Basketball Assn.) and then take a red-eye to Chicago to meet with his agents and sign the contract,” Rothenberg said. . . . The Clippers, who play the Portland Trail Blazers Friday night at the Sports Arena and then travel to Utah for a game Saturday night, are averaging 102.5 points a game, the second worst mark in the National Basketball Assn. Only New York (98.1) ranks lower. The Clippers are 21st in team defense, allowing an average of 112.9 points a game. . . . Norm Nixon has now missed 19 games, Darnell Valentine 13 and Marques Johnson 9. Johnson is apparently still trying to decide whether to have surgery to fuse two vertebrae in his neck. He was examined by a specialist in Boston last week.