Hawks Top Clippers, 125-115, as Wilkins Celebrates With 53

Atlanta Hawk Coach Mike Fratello took All-Star forward Dominique Wilkins aside before Monday night’s game against the Clippers.

“Happy birthday,” Fratello said to Wilkins, who turned 27 on Monday. “Why don’t you score 50 tonight?”

Wilkins replied: “I just want the win.”

Said Fratello: “I think if you score 50, we’ll get the win.”

Wilkins went on to score 53 points as the Hawks handed the Clippers their 16th consecutive loss, 125-115, before a crowd of 6,473 fans at the Omni.

“Dominique is a one-man show,” Clipper Coach Don Chaney said. “We didn’t have a player who could stop him. We tried three guys on him (Kenny Fields, Cedric Maxwell and Rory White) and nothing worked. He forces you to create a lot of different defenses to stop him.

“He’s more athletic than Larry Bird or Magic Johnson. He’s more in the mold of a Michael Jordan. Dominique is a high-energy player.”

Wilkins scored 20 of the Hawks’ 41 points in the first quarter, 4 in the second, 15 in the third and 14 in the fourth.

Wilkins’ best move of the night was a one-handed slam of a missed shot by Tree Rollins in the fourth period.

“I was fired up tonight,” Wilkins said. “I didn’t feel I had been playing the way I should have been playing.”

Wilkins made 19 of 25 shots from the floor, including a three-point shot, and made 14 of 19 free throws. He also had 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots, 2 assists and 2 steals in 37 minutes.

It was the second time this season that Wilkins has scored 50 or more points and the fourth time he has done it in his five-year career.

Wilkins tied his career-high by scoring 57 points on Dec. 10 in a game against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Jordan had 41 in that game. Wilkins also scored 57 points against New Jersey on April 10, 1986, in the next-to-last game of last season to win the 1985-86 National Basketball Assn. scoring title. He also had 50 points in a playoff game against Detroit last season.

Wilkins owns the top two games in the league this season. His 57-point effort against Chicago ranks as the best in the league this season, and Wilkins and Jordan share the No. 2 game with 53 points.

“This ranks up there in his top four or five games,” Atlanta forward Cliff Levingston said of Wilkins. “I’ve seen some games where he just looked immaculate. Some games you just want to sit back and watch him play.”

Said Atlanta guard Glenn (Doc) Rivers, who had 12 points and 10 assists: “It was a quiet 53 points for Dominique. It wasn’t a flashy game like the game he had against Chicago.”

After Wilkins’ big first quarter, Fratello took Wilkins out with 46 seconds left in the quarter. Wilkins returned with 9:01 remaining in the second quarter, but Fratello benched him again with 6:51 left in the quarter. Wilkins looked angry when he went to the bench. However, he returned again with 4:13 left in the period.

“I was feeling emotional (when Fratello took him out). I was fired up,” Wilkins said. “It was nothing. (Assistant coach) Willis Reed just told me to calm down.”

Obviously, the Clippers didn’t have anyone who could stop Wilkins.

However, Maxwell said that the officials protected Wilkins, who went to the free throw line 19 times.

Said Maxwell: “It’s almost impossible to stop him because he gets protection from the refs and that’s a great thing to have. I told him at halftime that he’s getting like Larry Bird. You can’t touch him. When you get to that point you can’t put a body on him.

“He’s a superstar player and superstar players get superstar calls from the refs. Regular players get regular calls and bench players don’t get any calls.”

Said Fields: “It was like going against Larry Bird. The guy (Wilkins) is the star of the team. When you’ve got talent like that, the only man who can stop Dominique is Dominique. I don’t feel bad because he’s done it to a lot of people.”

Said forward Michael Cage, who led the Clippers with 17 points and 13 rebounds: “He (Wilkins) was incredible.”

The Clippers, who have lost 28 of their last 29 games, lost all seven games of their Eastern trip. They return home for one game Wednesday night against Denver before going on the road again.

The Clippers were outscored, 21-7, at the end of the first quarter and the start of the second as Atlanta opened up a 12-point lead.

However, the Clippers outscored the Hawks, 27-20, in the second period and trailed by just three points, 61-58, at the half.

The Clippers were behind by five points, 92-87, at the start of the fourth period, but the Hawks (24-9) pulled away to win their second straight game.

Clipper Notes

Clipper guard Quintin Dailey will fly to Chicago today for a meeting with his drug counselor, Coach Don Chaney said. Chaney said that the Clippers have given Dailey permission to miss Wednesday night’s game against Denver at the Sports Arena. However, Dailey said that he hopes to make it back in time for the game. Dailey has undergone drug rehabilitation twice. . . . The 53 points that Dominique Wilkins scored tied the record for most points scored against the Clippers. Moses Malone scored 53 points against them on Feb. 2, 1982. . . . The Clippers are three losses away from matching the club record for most consecutive losses. They have won just one game in the last 62 days.