Clippers and Manning Take to Road to Play Trail Blazers

The Clippers, midway through a stretch of playing 7 of 10 games on the road, will meet the Portland Trail Blazers tonight in Memorial Coliseum, where they have lost 25 straight.

The Clippers are 2-3 after beating the Phoenix Suns in their home opener Saturday, 138-127 in overtime, and setting a National Basketball Assn. record for scoring in an overtime period with 23 points. It bettered the mark of 22, held by 3 teams.

Also notable was the debut of No. 1 draft pick Danny Manning, who finished with 12 points and 4 rebounds.

“He’s going to be a great player,” teammate Norm Nixon said. “He is another guy we have who is certain to make things happen.”

Added Benoit Benjamin: “We’re all glad the ordeal (of Manning’s holdout) is over.”

The 138 points overall is the most for the Clippers since April 14, 1984, when they beat the Utah Jazz, 146-128, while based in San Diego.

The crowd of 13,826 was the third-largest in the 19-year history of the franchise, topped only by the 16,121 who watched the then Buffalo Braves play Philadelphia on Oct. 23, 1976, and the 15,288 who saw the Braves play Boston on Oct. 19, 1974.

Portland, which beat the Clippers 6 times last season by an average of 16.6 points, is 2-3.