Clippers Escape Doldrums : Pro basketball: Casey wakes up team at halftime. Los Angeles goes on to defeat Nets, 119-115.

Coffee, tea or a big D, as in defeat? The Clippers saw their coaches about to runneth over.

“The teapot was boiling,” Charles Smith said of the, uh, motivation session by Don Casey and his three assistants at halftime of Wednesday night’s game against New Jersey. “It percolated. I think everyone heard it.”

Loud and clear, apparently. Down by 13 at the intermission and seemingly headed to an embarrassing loss, the Clippers rallied in the second half to beat the Nets, 119-115, at Brendan Byrne Arena and even their record on the trip at 2-2.

Casey had every right to hold the sugar-coating at halftime. Against a team that didn’t even shoot 50% itself, the Clippers went through the first half as if they were waiting to boil under a one-match flame. Neither offense was fresh, neither coach happy.

“It was like spending a long day in a torture chamber from the first quarter,” is how New Jersey’s Bill Fitch described it.

This from the coach of the team that led, 30-20, after the first quarter, 61-46 late in the second, and 61-48 at halftime in pursuit of its second three-game winning streak of the season. Imagine how Casey felt.

Things didn’t start to turn for the Clippers (24-35) until late in the third quarter. They still trailed, 82-72, with 3:52 remaining before going on 10-0 run to tie the score, Tom Garrick accounting for five of the points. It was 88-86, New Jersey, at the end of the period.

The Nets, who dropped to 15-44 and within two games of tying Miami for last place in the Atlantic Division, lost the lead for good after going up, 96-94, with 9:25 left. The Clippers surged again, using a 13-3 burst to take command at 107-99. Temporarily, at least.

The advantage was whittled to 116-115 after Benoit Benjamin committed an ill-advised foul on Sam Bowie’s layin with 24.5 showing. Bowie made the free throw for a one-point game, but Danny Manning hit two of his own from the line with 13.8 seconds remaining and Garrick converted one more with 1.1 showing for the final margin.

The Clippers, for a change, had a balanced scoring attack to support Smith, who had 19 of his 22 points in the first half. Benjamin finished with 21 points, Ken Norman had 20 and 13 rebounds, and Manning had 18 points.

The points were a particularly welcome addition from Benjamin, his highest scoring output since 24 against Washington on Feb. 8, the day before the all-star break.

“For us to win, for us to be an effective team, I’ve got to play,” he said. “Facts are facts.”

And so are these: Smith scored at least 20 points for the 10th game in a row. Plus, for all their internal problems, the Clippers could still return to Los Angeles Friday with a winning record on the trip, depending on what happens tonight at Minnesota.

Clipper Notes

New Jersey’s Derrick Gervin, cut by the Clippers in training camp, had six points in 15 minutes off the bench, giving him a 12.3 average since being signed out of the Continental Basketball Assn. . . . Ron Harper has not played since Jan. 16 because of torn knee cartilage and ligaments, but he is still second in the league in blocked shots among guards, with 41. Willie Anderson of San Antonio has 44.