Benjamin, Clippers Fade to 14th Straight Defeat : Center, Scoreless in Second Half, Gets No Sympathy After 103-93 Cavalier Win

Clipper center Benoit Benjamin has come up with a lot of excuses for his poor play this season.

First, there was his weight problem.

Then, he said he was hampered by a sore right knee.

But the 7-foot center came up with a new one Thursday night after the Clippers dropped their 14th consecutive game, this one by a 103-93 score to the Cleveland Cavaliers before an announced crowd of 6,361 at the Richfield Coliseum.

“I don’t think I’m getting the ball that much,” Benjamin said after failing to score a point in the second half. “I think I’m open. I’m just not getting the ball as much as I did last year.”

Benjamin had been a factor in the first two periods with 6 points and 6 rebounds as the Clippers raced to a 51-44 halftime lead.

But he was missing in action in the second half.

“I work hard to get the rebound and run on the break, and sometimes I don’t get it back,” Benjamin said. “Last year, the offense was centered around me toward the end of the year, and and now it’s like . . . I don’t know what to say.

“I haven’t said anything to the guards or Don (Clipper Coach Chaney) because I don’t want to make waves. I want to do what they ask me to do.”

Chaney and the rest of the Clippers didn’t buy Benjamin’s complaint about not getting the ball.

“That’s the biggest crock I’ve ever heard,” Chaney said, even punctuating his statement with an expletive, which is rare for him. “That’s a cop-out, and everyone knows it except him.

“To me, a person who thinks only offense is a selfish ballplayer. There are a lot of other phases to the game of basketball.

“He was non-existent in the second half. He’s slow--(Keith) Lee beat him in the transition twice, and (Lee) wasn’t supposed to be guarding him. I have a difficult time understanding his moods.

“He doesn’t have to get the ball to play basketball. That’s not the problem. He shot it nine times tonight and made three of them. The point is getting rebounds and playing defense. Do you believe he fights that hard to get the ball? He’s fooling himself, and everybody knows it except him. He plays a very good first half and dies in the second half.”

Clipper guard Larry Drew said: “We’re throwing it into him and he’s letting his man push him out of the box (key) and he’s taking jump shots. I think he should be more (upset) at the way other centers are pushing him outside the box. What they’re doing to him is what he should do to them. For a 7-footer, he’s taking a lot of outside shots.”

Michael Cage, who led the Clippers with 20 points and 12 rebounds said of Benjamin’s statement: “I don’t think it’s fair of him to say that when he’s getting nine shots, just the same as anybody else.”

Chaney had decided to shake up his lineup a bit, starting forward Kenny Fields in place of Cedric Maxwell. Fields produced 10 rebounds and 4 points in 27 minutes, Maxwell came off the bench for 10 points and 8 rebounds in 26 minutes.

The change seemed to wake up the Clippers, at least in the first half. However, guards Ron Harper and John Bagley and the rest of the Cavaliers blitzed the Clippers in the second half.

Cleveland outscored the Clippers, 30-19, in the third period and took a 74-71 lead into the final quarter. Bagley capped the third-period comeback when he sank a 40-foot, three-point prayer at the end.

Bagley made all three three-point shots he took in the game and finished with 20 points--16 in the second half--and 8 assists.

“I’m getting more of a chance to shoot this year,” he said, giving credit for that to the team’s new coach, Lenny Wilkens, and to a change in the Cavalier offense.

Harper, perhaps the league’s best rookie, finished with 24 points, including 11 in the second half, as the Cavaliers (14-19) broke a four-game losing streak. Harper also had 3 blocked shots and 3 assists.

Forward John (Hot Rod) Williams added 13 points and 12 rebounds for Cleveland, and Phil Hubbard scored 15 points and hauled down a game-high 13 rebounds.

For the Clippers, Mike Woodson chipped in 18 points and Drew 16.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers will play the Detroit Pistons tonight at the Silverdome in Pontiac, Mich. . . . The Cavaliers’ 10-point win over the Clippers tied their largest margin of victory this season. They beat San Antonio and Indiana by 10 points earlier this season. . . . The Clippers have not beaten the Cavaliers at home since Jan. 27, 1979, losing eight straight games at Richfield. The Cavaliers are 2-0 against the 4-29 Clippers this season. . . . Cleveland guard Ron Harper has been over 20 points 22 times this season. Guard John Bagley tied the Cavaliers’ season-high of three for three-point shots made in one game. . . . The Clippers have won just won game in the last 59 days. Their last win was on Dec. 10. They have also lost 13 consecutive road games, their last road win being on Nov. 6 in Houston.