For Clippers, a Turnabout on Sonics Is Fair Play

The Clippers, their 23-point comeback victory last Friday night at San Antonio still fresh in their minds, dispensed with the dramatics Tuesday night. This time, they came from only 9 down in the fourth quarter to beat the Seattle SuperSonics, 104-100, at the Sports Arena.

This was more than a comeback. It was a turnabout.

When the teams met earlier this month at Seattle, the SuperSonics won, 154-104, the fourth-largest margin of victory in National Basketball Assn. history.

“We thought about it a lot,” said center Benoit Benjamin, who had 15 points and 10 rebounds. “We wanted, if at all possible, to get a victory tonight.”

They did, winning their second straight and improving to 10-17.

Danny Manning had 25 points, 11 rebounds and 7 assists. Benjamin played well down the stretch for the second straight game. Quintin Dailey sank his first 6 shots and finished with a game-high 26 points. The SuperSonics, incredibly, went without a field goal for the final 6 minutes 42 seconds, getting their last 8 points on free throws.

These were all subplots in the much larger picture of SuperSonics-Clippers, Part II. The Exorcism of Ghosts of Clipper Pasts.

Seattle led 90-81 and 92-83 before the Clippers, who played much of the fourth quarter without a natural point guard--Coach Gene Shue choosing to go with a pair of shooters instead--went on an 11-0 run for the lead. That 94-92 advantage, on Manning’s jump hook from the right baseline with 3:07 to play, put them ahead for good.

The SuperSonics, who later tied the game but didn’t go ahead, made it 99-99, but Benjamin, relegated to reserve duty again, sank a free throw. Seattle missed its opportunity to take the lead back when Sedale Threatt’s field-goal attempt went astray.

A reverse layup by Manning with 11 seconds left gave the Clippers a 102-99 advantage, and Benjamin came through again, blocking Russ Schoene’s three-point shot with 7 seconds to play.

“He got every big rebound, every big blocked shot,” Manning said of Benjamin. “He was there for us.”

The SuperSonics’ then got a free throw from Dale Ellis, the league’s No. 3 scorer, with 4 seconds remaining. But his second shot hit the front of the rim and went out. Benjamin passed the ball in bounds to Dailey, streaking down the right sideline.

After catching the baseball toss, Dailey was fouled and converted both free-throw attempts with 1 second to play for the final margin.

“If the man (Ellis) didn’t foul me,” Dailey said, “I would have spiked it.”

If the Clippers had any lingering memories (nightmares?) of the 50-point tattooing Seattle administered Dec. 2 in Seattle, it didn’t do them any good in the first half of the rematch.

The Clippers led by 8 points on 2 occasions in the first quarter, only to lose the cushion. The SuperSonics caught up, 25-25, scored the next basket to move ahead at the end of the first quarter and used an 18-8 second-quarter run to lead at halftime, 57-53.

The Clippers, who had lost 7 of the previous 8 meetings against Seattle, took the lead early in the third quarter, 62-58. But the SuperSonics responded with a 9-2 surge to move back ahead. They held the edge the rest of the period and went into the final 12 minutes ahead, 80-75.

That set the stage for the fourth quarter and the Clipper comeback for the victory. Make that another Clipper comeback.

Clipper Notes

The injury update: Charles Smith, who missed last Friday night’s game at San Antonio with strained ligaments in his right hand and a sprained right wrist, returned, but he will wear a splint for a while whenever he doesn’t play. “Lately, I’ve been shooting the ball differently,” he said. “The ball has to sit in my hand just right to get it off correctly, and I’m not following through like I used to. But it’s feeling better all the time.” . . . Norm Nixon, out the previous 5 games, said the tendinitis in his right knee is gone . . . Quintin Dailey reported only lingering soreness in his left hip, the result of a third-quarter fall at San Antonio. All three played. . . . The Clippers play their next 6 games on the road, although first up is the Lakers at the Forum Friday night.