Loss by Clippers Is First Maverick Gain of Season, 123-99

Car-battery endorsements should be rolling in anytime for the Clippers, the best jump starters in the NBA.

For the second consecutive night, they provided a cure for an 0-2 team. First, on Tuesday, there was Golden State, whose first win of the season was by 24 points over the Clippers. Then Wednesday, Dallas was recharged after an 0-2 start. From winless to win-by-a-bundle, the Mavericks tinkered with the Clippers in similar fashion as Golden State did 24 hours earlier.

Dallas used a second-half blowout to win, 123-99.

The Sports Arena crowd of 7,021 booed the Clippers before making themselves scare in the fourth quarter. The outcome had long been decided by then, thanks to the Mavericks’ third-quarter overhaul.

After their impressive start--an opening-night win over Houston--the Clippers are 1-2. They’ve stalled, shut down on offense, with the New York Knicks in wait Saturday.

Tuesday night at Sacramento, the Mavericks’ Roy Tarpley had 22 rebounds and five blocked shots; and James Donaldson, who is bothered by tendinitis in his left knee after coming back much sonner than expected from surgery on his right knee, had 19 points and 14 rebounds.

That was enough for Clipper coach Don Casey, who benched Michael Young after an impressive 24-point, 14-rebound showing at Golden State on Tuesday. The move was to counter the size of Tarpley and Donaldson. That moved backup center Ken Bannister into the starting front court with Joe Wolf and Ken Norman.

Wolf got 7-foot-2, 275-pound Donaldson, giving away four inches and 45 pounds in the process. But Wolf made it through the first quarter without foul trouble, news in itself this young season. He also held his own against the constantly posted up Donaldson.

The Mavericks, off to the first 0-2 start in the 10-year team history, took a 55-46 lead by halftime, closing the first half with a 16-6 run in the final 4:34. Dallas made seven of 10 shots in that span and finished the first two quarters at a resounding 65.7%.

The Clippers, awful from the field Tuesday at Golden State, were at 42.9%. Norman, however, was seven of 11 for 18 points, the first-half high for both teams.

Dallas’ lead was stretched early in the second half. The Mavericks used a 6-2 surge at the start of the third quarter to lead, 61-48.

When the cushion extended to 77-59 with 6:49 to play in the period, Casey was forced to call his second timeout of the young half. The deficit was 18 . . . and growing.

It went all the way to 27 by the end of the third, 96-69. The Clippers had been outscored, 41-23, in 12 minutes.

Clipper Notes

Looking at his expected return from knee surgery as a fresh start, Danny Manning may go so far as to change from uniform No. 25, which he has worn since high school. He’s bounced the idea of No. 4 or 5, for no special significance, off some people with mixed reactions. “It would be different,” Manning said. “It would freak out a lot of people. I talked to some friends about it and they say I’m 25--25 for life. But I think it would be a nice change.” Manning, out since tearing a knee ligament Jan. 4, has been given approval by Dr. Stephen Lombardo to resume full practices Nov. 15, but the final decision for a return will come from Manning himself. “I don’t want to get too excited about it,” he said. “I don’t want to get a letdown if something goes wrong. If Nov. 15 comes and I feel fine, I’ll be ready to go and will give it a try. Manning, who has been working out with the Clippers on a limited basis, may accompany them on the next trip, Nov. 16 and 17 at Houston and Dallas, but it is not known when he will play in a game.

Charles Smith, who missed his second straight game, remains day-to-day with a strained muscle in his hip. . . .Four Clippers are on the all-star ballot: Ken Norman, Smith and Manning at forward and Benoit Benjamin at center. . . .For the first time this season, Joe Wolf made it through the first quarter without picking up three fouls. His proclivity at picking up fouls has been a particularly distressing predicament for the Clippers without Smith and Benjamin. Monday night at Golden State, Wolf got No. 3 some seven minutes into the game. “It didn’t hit me what I had done until I walked off the court, and then it really hit me,” said Wolf, who has played credibly since stepping up from forward to center in Benjamin’s absence. “It was like, ‘What have I done?’ I was real frustrated.”