To Dwell With It: Clippers Beaten in Final Second

Lonely Street? No. Down near the end of Figueroa Street, it’s Heartbreak Hotel.

Better known as the Sports Arena, it turned cruel on the tenants again Tuesday night, as if the Clippers, though off to a good start at home, didn’t have enough ulcer-makers to deal with. See: One-point loss to New York on tip-in of missed free throw with two seconds left, one-point loss to San Antonio when last-second three-point shot was ruled a two-pointer.

This time, it was left to a few nemeses to decide a 112-111 victory for the Boston Celtics before 15,350, one Larry Joe Bird and a couple of referees. The latter are far more anonymous, but the Clippers, not for the first time, figure those officials created more problems than the guy who scored 27 points and the game-winning free throws.

As if to add to the drama, there were two disputes that denied the Clippers (9-15) their sixth consecutive home victory. The first put Boston ahead, the second kept the Clippers down for good.

Boston led, 110-109, when Reggie Lewis got two of his season-high 28 points, 21 of which came in the second half, on two free throws with 10.3 seconds left. But when Charles Smith gave Kevin McHale and Robert Parish a head fake and made a fall-away 10-footer in the lane with 5.1 remaining, the Clippers were back ahead, 111-110.

Timeout Boston. The Clippers called one, too. When play resumed, McHale, at mid-court, threw the ball in to Bird, who drove left along the perimeter and was greeted with a double-team by Smith and Benoit Benjamin about 20 feet from the basket. Bird went up for the jumper; Smith and Benjamin appeared to be stationary with their arms up.

Foul, with two-tenths of a second to play. The crowd, which included a noticeable Celtic contingent, already reached a fevered pitch when Bird stepped to the line and waved his arms as if to say, “More.”

“One thing I’ve been able to do my whole basketball career is block the noise out,” he said. “It’s just like shooting by yourself.”

So Bird made both free throws.

“What foul?” Smith pleaded afterward. “Everybody here knows it wasn’t a foul. Larry said after the game I didn’t foul him.”

Well, yes and no.

“I told him he blocked the ball clean at the top,” Bird said. “But he got me with a little body contact. They don’t call it very often, but it’s still a foul. I also told him he traveled on the play just before.”

The Clippers, making a good impression in their only national television appearance of 1989-90, called a timeout again. The first option was a lob under the basket to one of the big men. When Danny Manning stood with the ball at halfcourt and saw that route close, he went to the second choice, Ron Harper.

Harper caught the ball a few feet in front of the Clipper bench, turned and fired. The ball swished, and players celebrated. Then they saw referee Mike Mathis, who had signaled game over before Harper even shot.

There was no doubt in Harper’s mind it should have counted.

“Oh, yeah,” he said.

Coach Don Casey wasn’t quite so emphatic.

“That was close,” Casey said. “If it was in Boston Garden, the timer may not have gone off as quick. . . . But that’s one I can’t argue.”

Smith finished with 33 points, 21 in the second half. That included one stretch in the fourth quarter when he scored 10 straight and 12 of 15 Clipper points in a span of 4:28.

“Charles is developing an I-want-the-ball persona,” Casey said after the Clippers lost to the Celtics for the 11th consecutive time. “He felt comfortable with McHale, and I thought he did an excellent job.”

That Smith’s final basket was only the game-winner once removed is what will be remembered, however. It is another would-of, could-of loss, piling up as they are.

“Again,” Smith said, “a game was snatched from us.”

Clipper Notes

It was the Clippers’ second sellout of the season. . . . Gary Grant had one of his best shooting performances of the season, making 11 of 20 for 24 points. He also had 12 assists and only three turnovers. . . . Reggie Lewis led Boston (15-11) with a season-high 28 points. . . . Larry Bird, on his free-throw line theatrics in the waning seconds: “I don’t call it egging them on. I think it’s just getting them involved.”

Boston General Manager Jan Volk, who rarely accompanies the team on trips outside the Atlantic Division, had an informal meeting Tuesday with Leonard Armato, agent for Brian Shaw, to lay a foundation for talks that could bring Shaw back to the Celtics next season. Shaw has a two-year deal with Il Messaggero in Italy, but the second season includes an escape clause, and Shaw has said he would like to return to the NBA in 1990-91 under the right conditions. Shaw, from Richmond, Calif., and UC Santa Barbara, was in California for a Christmas vacation and was scheduled to fly back to Rome today.