Clippers Jump on Warriors : Pro basketball: It’s an inside job as 45-20 first quarter turns into 139-119 romp. Golden State Coach Nelson is ejected.

Maybe the idea from now on is to make sure the game doesn’t come down to a referee’s call.

“I know everybody was thinking that,” Gary Grant said. “Nobody was saying that, but we were thinking it.”

Stung by another controversial loss in their last outing, the Clippers all but eliminated the possibility of official intervention in the first quarter Thursday night against Golden State. They followed that with 36 more minutes of solid play to rout the Warriors, 139-119, before 10,014 at the Sports Arena.

Along the way, there were several milestones: Most points in a game by any Clipper team since moving to Los Angeles five-plus seasons ago. Forty-five assists, to equal the franchise record. Most field goals in a game (60) by an L.A. Clipper team.

And a 10-5 home record and wins in six of their last seven games at the Sports Arena. That makes a 10-15 mark overall that much more respectable.

That first quarter did it, as the Clippers opened with a 32-12 run to take an insurmountable lead. It seemed academic from there--and the Clippers passed easily. A showing such as this should be worth extra credit.

A first quarter unlike any the Clippers have played this season--maybe any season--began appropriately enough. Ken Norman’s layup, Ron Harper’s layup, Harper’s layup, Norman’s layup, Grant’s layup and free throw, Charles Smith’s dunk.

It was an inside job all the way. The Clippers got an eight-foot jump hook from Joe Wolf, a 12-foot jump shot by Smith and a baseline 18-footer from Wolf, and that was the extent of their outside game in the first quarter.

“We didn’t have time to think about it,” Grant said. “We just kept going.”

Why change a good thing? En route to taking an incredible 45-20 lead after 12 minutes, they hit an equally astonishing 19 of 27 attempts, or 70.3%. Neither could make the Clipper record book, but they were only getting warmed up.

So was Don Nelson. The Golden State coach got his first technical 54 seconds into the second quarter, and Harper converted the free throw for a 46-22 advantage, soon to become 52-24.

It was 62-47, not long after the Clippers built a 30-point lead, when Nelson had seen enough. Technical No. 2 came while arguing a no-foul call with 2:39 to play in the first half, getting him an early ejection, the coach’s second in as many regular-season games at the Sports Arena.

The smallest Clipper lead of the second quarter was 13, 60-47, and they had reason to feel good about it. This was a Golden State team, after all, that came in having won six of its last seven to rebound from a 4-14 start and had averaged 122.6 points in that recent stretch.

All upbeat Warrior feelings disappeared quickly. After two quarters, they trailed, 70-55. The Clippers shot 60.4% in the first half, with Harper going seven of 10 for 19 points, Norman six of six for 12, and Grant four of six for 11 points and 10 assists.

The final numbers were just as impressive.

Grant had 20 assists, 15 points and six rebounds. Harper had a game-high 28 points, hitting 11 of 17 shots, and eight assists. Wolf, back in the starting lineup, had 12 rebounds and 10 points. Smith added 22. Seven players scored in double figures for the Clippers, who finished at 60% and had their first 100-shot game of 1989-90.

About the only thing the Clippers didn’t do well was shoot free throws, an ongoing problem, but this wasn’t a night to worry about 69.2% from the line.

It was about scoring 45 and 42 points in the first and third quarters, respectively. And about the continuation of Benoit Benjamin becoming a more integral part of the offense.

Though not particularly impressive on the boards--he has 43 rebounds in the last six games, including six in 23 minutes against the Warriors, and has broken double figures only once in that stretch--Benjamin has received plenty of attention from the Clipper offense the last three games.

Thursday, he responded by making seven of 10 shots for 19 points.

“They (coaches) told me they want me to score more,” he said. “So, I think I’ll be seeing the ball more.”

When the Clipper offense works like this, everyone will.

Clipper Notes

Rod Thorn, the NBA’s vice president for operations, reviewed the final seconds of Tuesday’s 112-111 loss to Boston to check an apparent malfunction of the Sports Arena clock. Though not requested by either team, Thorn talked with the referees and looked at the tape and agreed that the scoreboard went from 0.2 to 0.0, but, after re-timing it himself Wednesday, Ron Harper’s basket to win still came too late. A handful of arenas have had similar problems in the first season that tenths of a second are being used, but this was the first such occurrence at the Sports Arena. Thorn could not rule on the Clippers’ main contention that the foul that led to the game-winning free throws by Larry Bird was incorrect because it was a judgment call.

Representatives for the Clippers and Harper, a restricted free agent at the end of the season, met for two hours Wednesday in what was described as preliminary negotiations. The Clippers certainly plan to retain their star guard, who went into Thursday’s game averaging 21.7 points, and agent Mark Termini said he also views the future here in a positive light. Harper was largely noncommittal. “The guys are playing hard, we’re enjoying playing together and we’re growing as a team,” he said. “We’ll just have to wait and see what takes place in the off-season.” When told that some have said he could easily command $2 million a season, a hefty raise from his current $650,000 signed just out of college, Harper laughed. “They’d better go higher than that,” he said. “I deserve 2 (million) with ease.”

Joe Wolf, who relinquished his role as starting center Dec. 9 after suffering a strained lower back, got the assignment back as Benoit Benjamin missed the afternoon shoot-around with a bad stomach and came off the bench. . . . The 33 points by Charles Smith in the Celtic game tied a career high. . . . His wrist and knee finally healed, Ken Norman is now bothered by a sore left groin strain, suffered Dec. 13 against Detroit. He was limping in the second quarter, left the game, and did not return.