Clippers Bow Again on Road

Walter Davis scored 22 points, and Larry Nance had 13 of his 20 points in the first half Friday night as the Phoenix Suns handed the Clippers their 12th straight road loss, 130-117.

Phoenix, shooting 71% in the first quarter, led, 38-27, at the end of the period, with Nance scoring 11 points.

The Suns led, 66-49, at halftime, then by 103-89 after the third quarter behind the 10-point performance of Jay Humphries and a 9-point effort by Davis, whose three-point goal with 1:27 left made it 98-78.

Alvan Adams’ layup with 7:30 left in the game gave Phoenix a 117-97 lead before Coach Dick Van Arsdale cleared his bench.

Humphries finished with 19 points, while Ed Pinckney and Mike Sanders had 15 apiece. Adams had 13.

Mike Woodson led the Clippers, who have a 3-32 road record this season, with 27 points; Benoit Benjamin had 18, and Larry Drew scored 15.

The loss was the Clippers’ 32nd in 41 games at Arizona Veterans Memorial Coliseum.

“We thought this was a team tonight that we certainly should beat. We could not afford to have a letdown,” Van Arsdale said. “We came out at the start and played well. That set the tempo of the game. We got a good effort from just about everybody.”

The Suns out-rebounded the Clippers, 56-45, with Nance pulling down nine. Nance also blocked three shots, as did Pinckney.

“That had to be our worst defensive effort one-on-one all year,” Clipper Coach Don Chaney said. “We kept getting beat one-on-one, and the weakside help would come over and they’d kick it out and score so easily.

“The Suns beat us with free movement. They ran up and down the court like they had a week’s rest. We lost because we played no defense and like we had lead boots on.”

Humphries, who had 9 assists, said: “We just wanted to make sure we came out and tried to dictate the game our way. We just wanted to make sure we got into the game early, and it seemed to work out well for us. Against a team like that, you have to put them away early, and we did that.”