Clippers Shut Down the Pistons : Pro basketball: L.A. holds on for 83-79 victory despite missing seven of eight free throws down the stretch.

The bad boys were wearing white.

The home whites. The Clippers, picking up technical fouls quicker than victories of late, got two more in the third quarter Wednesday night against the Detroit Pistons, the supposed bullies of the basketball world who did manage a double technical of their own in the closing minute.

By then, things had really turned upside down: The Clippers, who have four technicals in the last two games, not counting illegal defense calls, beat the defending NBA champions, 83-79, before 13,041 at the Sports Arena.

“We aren’t selective in our big wins here,” Coach Don Casey said. “All our wins are big wins.”

This one didn’t come easily.

“We just came out and competed,” Clipper forward Ken Norman said. “That’s what we needed to do, forget all the damn excuses. We don’t have an outside shooter. We didn’t have all our players. Tonight, we proved we don’t have to do anything to win but compete for 48 minutes.”

Blue-collar, bad boy style.

And, for a change, after losses in their last three close games, the Clippers claimed a victory. Not that they didn’t help make it closer than necessary, missing seven of their last eight free throws down the stretch.

Two attempts--both misses by Ron Harper--came when Detroit’s Isiah Thomas was ejected on a double technical with 42.8 seconds left and the Pistons trailing by four after arguing with referee Don Vaden.

“The way I played tonight, it wouldn’t have mattered anyway,” said Thomas, who made six of 22 attempts with three assists and three turnovers.

The Clippers (7-12) took the biggest lead of the fourth quarter, 82-77, on Harper’s desperation three-point basket with 2:02 to play and the shot clock at two. That proved to be an insurmountable lead in an ending that lasted longer than some winning streaks.

“It seemed like two weeks to me,” said the Clippers’ Danny Manning, who scored 15 points to tie Harper, Gary Grant and Norman for the team high.

No one, however, was complaining.

“It can last an hour if we’re going to win,” Norman said of the final minutes.

Tuesday night, the Clippers played at Portland and the Pistons were at Denver. The offenses, or at least the shooting touches, obviously didn’t make the trip to Los Angeles, because it was nonstop non-offense the entire way.

Coincidentally, the offensive slowdown came six years to the night the Pistons and Nuggets set the NBA record for the highest-scoring game, a 186-184 Detroit victory in triple overtime.

Wednesday, the Clippers (42.7% from the field) and Pistons (30.8%) couldn’t even reach 186 together.

Still, Wednesday was a good day from the start for the Clippers. Norman returned after a two-game absence with tendinitis in his right knee and a sore right hand, and Charles Smith was back after one game out with sprained tendons in his big right toe. The team also gained an additional 10 minutes per game from Manning, who met with Dr. Stephen Lombardo and was upgraded to 30 minutes per contest. Another examination is set for next Wednesday, when the restrictions might be lifted completely.

“The good news is they’re back,” Casey said of Norman and Smith. “The realistic news is that they’re not 100% yet. That’s what you have to deal with.”

Smith was in the opening lineup. But Norman, wearing a blue protective sleeve on the knee for at least a few games, was on the bench in favor of Manning. No matter. Both had significant contributions as the Clippers led for most of the first half.

Manning made five of his first eight shots en route to 12 points, the only player on either team to reach double figures by halftime. Norman scored eight, but the Clippers trailed at intermission, 38-37.

They were ahead, 33-27, with 7:16 left before going cold. Points 34 and 35 didn’t come until Smith’s layup with 2:56 remaining. By then, the Pistons trailed by a point.

It would have been worse had Detroit shot better than 28% (seven of 25) in the second quarter, and 30% (15 of 50) for the half.

The sluggish offense continued almost without relief. The Pistons (14-7) began play averaging 104.1 points a game, the Clippers 102.1, but neither reached 50 until 6:04 remained in the third quarter. That gave Detroit a two-point lead, but the Clippers tied it again, 50-50, 19 seconds later on a layup by Smith.

By the end of the third quarter, the Clippers led, 61-57, thanks to a 6-1 surge in the final 1:44. Two of the Pistons’ points in that period on the Clipper technicals, one when Manning slammed the ball to the ground in disgust of a non-call and the other when Ken Bannister yelled at officials from the bench.

In the fourth quarter, the Clippers fell into a tie four times, but never trailed.

So on a night when no one shot well and the Clippers missed what could have been crucial free throws, they did, more than anything, hold together. And when someone asked Casey afterward who stood out, his answer was quick in coming.

“The team,” he said.

Clipper Notes

Joe Wolf missed his third consecutive game with a sprained muscle in his lower back, but said he may return Saturday against Denver. . . . The Pistons had 12 turnovers against the Clippers, who remain among the league’s best at forcing turnovers.