‘Milwaukee’ Play Doesn’t Work : Clippers: Manning gets career-high 39 points, but L. A. loses to Portland, 118-115, for fourth consecutive defeat.

The Clippers are 1-1 with “Milwaukee,” which is not to be confused with 1-1 against Milwaukee. More than semantics are involved, too. This gets right down to thievery.

It’s a play the Clippers call “Milwaukee,” named that because they lifted it from the Bucks. To be clinical, it’s a cross-court lob pass to the off guard under the basket, who--if all goes right--should be open thanks to a double pick at the top of the key. It worked for the game-winning basket a week earlier against Minnesota, and it almost worked Saturday night against Portland.

Almost.

Danny Manning’s pass with 2.8 seconds remaining and the Clippers trailing by a point was long, and itforced a wide-open Ken Norman out of bounds for the catch in a 118-115 loss to the Trail Blazers before 13,170 at the Sports Arena.

“We stole (the play) from Milwaukee,” Clipper Coach Don Casey admitted. “Dave (Twardzik, an assistant) saw it on one of their games, diagrammed it for me on the board. We said, ‘Yeah, it looks good.’ He was open, wasn’t he?”

Norman was. Manning, who made the same tough pass to Jeff Martin for a layin against Minnesota, simply threw too long, forcing Norman onto the baseline to catch the ball.

Manning, who scored a career-high 39 points on 14-of-20 shooting, pleaded guilty.

“I just threw a bad pass,” he said.

Said Casey: “It was a hell of a play they executed, and it was just a little off-center. But I’ll tell you, it’s a hell of a pass to have to make.”

The Clippers were forced to foul quickly to get the ball back. But Terry Porter made both free throws for two of his team-high 27 points--to go with 15 rebounds--with one second left for the final margin.

“I’d rather come back and fall short than just go away and come back another day,” Casey said.

For the second consecutive game, the Clippers--who have their first four-game losing streak of the season--did not disappear after falling behind by double digits. They lost Thursday to Houston by a point.

“We know we can play competitively with anyone in this league,” said Norman, who had 10 rebounds and nine points. “A lot of our games are going to go down to the stretch.”

It didn’t look like it at the outset, as the Trail Blazers--who moved within 1 1/2 games of the idle Lakers in the Pacific Division--built a 31-20 lead with 51 seconds left in the first quarter. The lead went to 13 points when they closed out the quarter with a layup by Danny Young.

Portland held the cushion until the Clippers’ 8-2 run late in the first half. Moments later, Portland’s lead was cut to 58-55 when Manning scored from inside and converted the free throw for a three-point play with 2:08 remaining.

It remained a three-point game for all but the final 1.9 seconds of the first half. That’s when Portland, winners of six in a row and 12 of 13, got two free throws from Porter to lead, 64-59.

By then, Benoit Benjamin had 10 points and six rebounds, en route to 21 and 17, respectively.

The 59 points were a good sign for a Clipper offense that has struggled the past week with two sub-100 point games in four outings. Still, other problems developed that made it tough to take advantage of a home game in the midst of a streak in which they play eight of 10 games away from the Sports Arena.

With his tendinitis in his left knee continuing to cause pain, Tom Garrick missed his second consecutive game and is not expected to dress Tuesday against the Lakers. He will be re-evaluated later in the week.

Also, Norman missed the last two days of practice with the flu, giving rookie Jeff Martin his first start. Norman, however, played six minutes in the first half, and then opened the third quarter, when the Clippers (18-23) got even.

Outscoring Portland, 7-2, to begin the second half, the Clippers tied the game, 66-66, on Benjamin’s tip-in of a miss by Manning. Moments later, they had their first lead when Drexler was called for goaltending on Gary Grant’s layup 2:25 into the quarter.

But the Trail Blazers responded, taking a 93-86 lead into the fourth quarter. Manning had 15 points in those final 12 minutes, helping the Clippers pull even, 99-99, temporarily go ahead, and then tie it again, 115-115, with a baseline jump shot with 1:11 remaining.

Portland (30-11) went ahead for good when Buck Williams made one of two attempts from the line with 55 seconds left. The Clippers had two shots--an air ball by Manning and a miss inside by Charles Smith--before they got the ball for the final time. Then came “Milwaukee,” except that the pass went by way of Green Bay.