Rockets Open the Door, but Clippers Can’t Get In

Free throws were becoming very costly for the Houston Rockets, who were paying for missed opportunities by the second. The Clippers were cashing in.

A nine-point Rocket lead with 1:27 to play was cut to two with 26 seconds left. Mitchell Wiggins, who had already invested 26 points Thursday at the Summit worried about the bottom line.

“I’m glad they fouled me again,” said Wiggins, who had missed two free throws with 31 seconds remaining. “It got me off the hook.”

The Rockets needed both of Wiggins’ free throws to defeat the Clippers, 102-101, the final points coming on Clipper Ken Norman’s three-point basket at the buzzer.

It was the Rockets’ 10th consecutive victory at home. The Clippers had their fifth one-point loss of the season and their eighth consecutive defeat at the Summit.

But more than anything, Houston had escaped.

Sleepy Floyd, another dependable shooter, also went bad down the stretch.

“Me and Sleepy, we both shoot above 86%,” said Wiggins, who actually began the night at 84.5% from the line. “He (Floyd) just got into a slump where he missed one or two and it got contagious. . . . We should have won easily, but I’m just glad we won.”

The Rockets missed seven of their final 11 attempts from the line, including one stretch of seven misses in eight tries. That included Floyd, 87.9% coming in, going two for six in a span of 39 seconds when the Clippers were fouling to stop the clock.

Taking advantage of the missed free throws, and with Coach Don Casey calling timeouts on four consecutive possessions, the Clippers pulled within 100-96 as Gary Grant made two free throws with 38 seconds remaining.

When Wiggins missed two free throws seconds later, the Clippers capitalized again, Charles Smith making two from the line with 26 seconds remaining to make the score 100-98.

But with the game on the line, the Clippers, having rallied from 12 points behind with 4:43 to play, had a communication problem.

Casey told the players during a timeout to foul again once the Rockets crossed midcourt, but to go for a steal or force a 10-second call in the backcourt. The players apparently thought he told them not to foul at all. Houston ran 17 seconds off before Norman intentionally wrapped up Wiggins.

Continuing his comeback from a 2 1/2-year suspension for cocaine abuse, Wiggins converted both free throws to give him a team-high 28 points.

More important, it gave the Rockets a four-point lead, 102-98, so that when Norman grabbed a loose ball in front of the Clipper bench and turned and fired in a three-pointer, it didn’t matter.

“Too little too late,” center Benoit Benjamin said. “We had a pretty good run. I thought we had a shot at it. But we didn’t play defense at the right time when we should have made clutch plays.”

Benjamin made more than his share. Casey said he “went off on a little tear.” Benjamin had 29 points (11 for 16 from the field), 14 rebounds and a did fine job of neutralizing Akeem Olajuwon on the day the Rocket center was selected a starter for the Western Conference all-star team.

After back-to-back down games--a combined six for 17 shooting, 15 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks--Benjamin finished the trip with one of his best performances of the season. He came in having averaged 14.9 points and 9.2 rebounds in 16 previous games against Olajuwon and the Rockets.

“It makes me feel good to play this good here, against an all-star center, and have good numbers,” he said. “But when you lose, it kind of defeats the purpose.”

It was the opposite feeling for the Rockets. They made only 14 of 28 free throws and left happy.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers have averaged 23.5 turnovers the last four games, including 25 against the Rockets, so Danny Manning might start handing the ball more. “Danny is so versatile,” Coach Don Casey said. “We have to do a lot of things to maximize him out.” . . . In addition to the 28 points by Mitchell Wiggins, the Rockets also got 25 points and a career-high 10 rebounds from Buck Johnson.

Houston center Akeem Olajuwon, who began the night first in the league in rebounding and blocked shots and 12th in scoring, on being voted starting center for the Western Conference all-stars for the fourth consecutive year: “The most important thing now, since making it my rookie year, is that it’s going to be a great disappointment when I don’t make it.”

The Clippers (18-22) return to Los Angeles today and will play Portland Saturday at the Sports Arena. After playing the Trail Blazers and Lakers, the Clippers will have a five-game trip that will end with the all-star break.