Clippers Make a Game of It Before Pistons Take Over for 117-101 Win

The Clippers’ recent improbable run--winning six of 10 games, including victories over playoff-bound Cleveland and Denver--was tripped up Sunday night in a most preditable manner, a Detroit Piston team with enough depth and inside strength to handle any club, let alone this inexperienced one.

Dominating the boards and intimidating the Clippers in a couple of minor pushing incidents, the Pistons won for the 20th time in 22 outings, 117-101, before 14,309 at the Sports Arena.

The Pistons outrebounded the Clippers, 62-31, including 19-9 on the offensive end. They got 22 points, 18 rebounds and six assists (with no turnovers) from Bill Laimbeer, who was left alone by Clipper forwards to camp at the top of the free-throw circle and fire away at the basket.

Detroit got 23 points from Joe Dumars and 22 from Vinnie Johnson off the bench. They outscored the Clipper reserves, 44-14.

Indeed, they’ve got it all, this team that won the Eastern Conference title last season and has the best record in the league (53-17) for 1988-89.

“They’re able to put you in a position where you can stop one thing and they go right to doing another,” Coach Don Casey said after the Clippers’ three-game winning streak, their longest in three years, was snapped. “They have multiple weapons.”

More than any other team?

“If they’re not 1, they’re 1A.

“I think it was everything (that beat us)--everything but coaching,” Casey said, smiling. “They have such physical strength. And they only have three all-stars out there and the best sixth man in the game.”

That would be Dennis Rodman, the league leader in field goal percentage who had only a supporting role as a shooter (two of five from the floor, five points), but was his usual terror on the boards: 10 rebounds, including seven offensive. That, of course, was only two less than all of the Clippers had.

Laimbeer had only three offensive boards, but the two that came within 56 seconds of each other in the third quarter sparked an 11-2 run and turned the game in favor of the Pistons for good.

The Clippers (17-54) were down by only 77-70 when Laimbeer grabbed Isiah Thomas’ missed shot and layed it in with 4:04 left. With 3:10 left, he put in Dumars’ miss for to make it 81-70.

Detroit, winners of eight straight games, led at the end of the third, 90-76. The state of the Clipper depth what it is with Reggie Williams and Joe Wolf injured, the out-muscled and out-manned upstarts were never heard from again.

“They need a bench,” Laimbeer said. “The starters play real well together and they’re improving, but they need a bench. Badly.”

Laimbeer was right on, which, the way he and the Pistons are going, was no surprise.

Clipper Notes

Ken Norman scored 24 points for the Clippers and Benoit Benjamin added 20. . . . Joe Wolf, who strained ligaments in his right elbow during the fourth quarter of Friday’s win over San Antonio, is expected to have the arm in a sling for a week and be evaluated on a day-to-day basis after that. Wolf, who started three of the previous five games at forward and center, had missed only eight games to injury this season, and none since Nov. 25, after sitting out 40 as a rookie. . . . Benjamin passed Garfield Heard for third place in franchise history with 1,763 career defensive rebounds. However, Benjamin finished with only nine boards, the first time he has been held under double digits in 11 games. . . . The Clippers play host to Boston Tuesday.