Harper’s Return a Success : Clippers: Sellout crowd sees guard score 13 points in 99-98 victory over the Bucks. Smith makes the winning basket.

Ron Harper will need a few nights to get his timing back, but no Clipper will care a bit. The only significant aspect of Saturday’s game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Sports Arena is that he was in it.

The organization, aware of the severity of the knee injury Harper suffered one year and 10 days earlier, but also remembering Danny Manning’s seven-of-10 performance under similar circumstances a season ago, simply hoped for the best.

Playing for the first time since suffering a torn ligament and cartilage in his right knee, Harper made five of 13 shots and three of six free throws for 13 points and had two rebounds. But there was more to his contribution than points in a 99-98 victory over the Bucks before a sellout crowd of 15,350.

“A lot of it can be attributed to him,” said Charles Smith, whose 16-footer from the right side with 30 seconds to play was the winner. “We definitely wanted a victory for him coming back. It was an emotional night.”

As it was for Harper, who tried to keep things simple. He went about his routine, keeping a pregame speaking engagement with a youth group at the Sports Arena set up five weeks ago even after the Clipper publicity department offered to reschedule. He avoided fanfare and buildup surrounding his return as much as possible, but could do nothing to restrain the reaction to his fourth-quarter spark, especially the three-point play followed by a high-arcing, fall-away shot in the lane on consecutive possessions late in the game.

“I’ve got to wait until (Sunday) morning to see how I feel,” Harper said, speaking in terms of medical, not emotional, reactions. “It’s just a joy to be back. I have to thank God. He gave me a chance. I don’t know. Overjoyed.”

He had three stretches of five or six minutes each and totaled 18, close enough to the restriction of 15 that the extra minutes were overlooked because of his importance down the stretch. Immediate reports on the strength of the knee in its first NBA action since Jan. 16, 1990, were upbeat, falling right in line with the feeling of the night.

“Late in the fourth quarter, I came down and Gary (Grant) gave me the ball near the key, and I went for a quick move and passed to Charles,” Harper said.

“That was a test for the knee. . . . It felt good.”

Looking to put a spark in a team that had not won back-to-back games in seven weeks, Coach Mike Schuler had decided to start Harper over Jeff Martin at shooting guard, if Harper wanted. The expected benefits would have been an emotional lift for the Clippers and the opportunity for Harper to begin playing immediately after loosening the knee in pregame warmups.

But when the two met before the afternoon shoot-around at the Sports Arena, Harper decided he would come off the bench. Schuler said later that meant Martin’s starting job is safe “for a while.”

Harper, wearing a blue, custom-fitted fiberglass brace on his right leg, entered the game without warning after a television timeout, getting a standing ovation as he replaced Martin with 6:27 left in the first quarter.

Martin had made two of his first three shots. Harper missed layins on each of the next two Clipper possessions, but he brought the crowd to its feet shortly after entering the game by stealing Frank Brickowski’s pass.

He left at the end of the first quarter and didn’t return the rest of the half. In six minutes, he missed all four shots.

The Clippers trailed, 55-47, at halftime, but opened the third quarter with a 12-2 run to take the lead back. When Milwaukee responded with 10 unanswered points, Harper returned.

This time, he made his first shot, from the baseline in the left corner. The ball was stripped from him by Humphries on a double-team, and then came his best move. Harper recovered after slipping in the left side, made a stop-and-start move to shake the defender and then glided down the middle for a layup. If anyone was looking for an early test of agility, this was it.

Clipper Notes

A source within the Minnesota Timberwolves’ organization told the Star Tribune of Minneapolis that the Clippers offered Danny Manning and Gary Grant to the Timberwolves for Pooh Richardson, but were turned down.

Jay Edwards has yet to discuss his future with Coach Mike Schuler or General Manager Elgin Baylor, but the second-year guard who is returning from a lengthy stint on the suspended list after flunking a drug test last season said he did not want to go on the injured list. The Clippers have until Tuesday to evaluate Edwards’ status and decide whether to waive him or not.