Knicks Take the Steam Out of Rising Clippers in Overtime, 135-128

Come along on the Clipper bandwagon, the National Basketball Assn.’s version of a Disneyland E-ticket ride.

The roller coaster that soars at home and screams downward on the road ran the full circuit Wednesday night against the New York Knicks.

Impressive at the start, sloppy in the middle, solid down the stretch but cold when it counted most, the Clippers lost for the first time in 7 outings at the Sports Arena this season, 135-128, in overtime before a crowd of 11,507.

New York (9-5) opened the 5-minute extra period with a 11-2 run and forced the Clippers to foul to catch up. They never did, making only 3 of 10 shots from the floor in the overtime.

The Clippers (6-8) never trailed in the last 7 minutes of regulation, but the Knicks tied the score three times in that stretch.

The second time came when guard Mark Jackson drove for a layup to make it 116-116 with 9 seconds left.

Without calling a timeout, the Clippers pushed the ball downcourt and got it to Quintin Dailey, who was fouled and converted both free throws.

The Knicks, after calling a regular and a 20-second timeout, with the Clippers adding a full of their own, responded. Johnny Newman took the ball out at halfcourt and got it to Gerald Wilkins at midcourt. Wilkins dribbled in and hit a straightaway 8-foot running jumper in a crowd with 1 second remaining, and the score was 118-118.

New York, off to its best start since opening 11-3 in the 1980-81 season, led throughout the second half, until Reggie Williams grabbed a Knick miss and went the length of the court for a layup and a 105-103 Clipper advantage.

The Knicks committed a costly mistake by getting hit with their second delay-of-game call, worth a technical. Danny Manning made good on the free throw to put the Clippers up, 108-105.

The Clippers, back in the sanctuary of home, were at their unpredictable best in the first half.

A night after losing by 28 to then 1-9 Sacramento on the road, and shooting 43.4% from the field in the process, they set a seasonal best for points in a quarter by scoring 40 in the opening 12 minutes. That gave them a 3-point advantage over the Knicks, winners of 4 of their last 6 on the road.

The Clippers padded it with a 10-2 run to open the second for a 50-39 advantage. But then they regressed to the team of Tuesday, and New York went on a 20-6 blitz in a span of 6:01 in the second quarter to go up, 59-56.

The Knicks were also up at halftime, but by then the Clippers had come back again to make it 68-67. It took a pair of Jackson free throws with 1 second left before intermission to give New York the lead.

Dailey, continuing to impress as a starter, hit 7 of his first 12 shots, giving him 16 points in the first 2 quarters. He finished with 27 points on 9-of-19 shooting. Manning added 20 points for the Clippers, who shot 56.9% from the floor in the first half after opening with 32.6% at Sacramento.

The Knicks, who got 32 points from Jackson and 28 from Wilkins, were coming off wins over Detroit and Cleveland last week.

Clipper Notes

Quintin Dailey started at off guard for the fourth straight game in place of Reggie Williams. The first two were because Williams was out with a scratched eye, but Dailey secured the spot by scoring 18, 25 and 7 points in the first 3 outings. Williams had a team-high 19 points off the bench in Tuesday’s loss to Sacramento, and his 6 steals were the most by a Clipper this season. . . . Grant Gondrezick’s 17 points against the Kings was his career best. . . . Charles Smith, on the injured list with a sprained left knee, is No. 1 in the league in scoring among rookies, at 17.8 points a game. . . . Dodger pitcher Orel Hershiser, sitting courtside next to Clipper owner Donald T. Sterling, got a standing ovation when introduced during a first-quarter timeout. . . . The Clippers open a 2-game trip Friday at Seattle.