Clippers’ Streak Reaches 8 in Row : Pro basketball: They beat Orlando, 119-104, pushing their home record to 11-4.

The good times rolled on at the Sports Arena, the suddenly delightful home to the suddenly unbeatable team.

The Clippers’ 119-104 victory over the Orlando Magic Sunday night--with Ron Harper scoring 26 points and Danny Manning adding 22 points, nine rebounds and six assists--made it 16 days since the last defeat.

How long is that on the Clipper calendar?

Several players couldn’t even remember the last team to beat them.

“It seems about a year ago,” Ken Norman said.

Or, as Manning said: “I don’t know. Why should we even think about losing?”

Actually, it was Nov. 29, when banged-up Washington recorded a 101-94 victory. Since then, the Clippers have won eight in a row, tying the second-best mark in franchise history. Six of the victories have come at the Sports Arena, pushing their home mark to 11-4.

“With each win, people have become much happier,” Doc Rivers said. “It has become a much happier place.”

At 11-4, no team has more wins at home than the Clippers, which is impressive enough. But consider how many have more victories, period:

Chicago has 18.

The Lakers and Utah have 15.

The Clippers, and four others, have 14.

In other words: No. 3 with a bullet. And they still don’t have all the chambers loaded considering Charles Smith missed his second consecutive game with swelling and pain in his right knee.

“It makes us feel good about coming to practice and even walking the streets,” Norman said after helping the Clipper bench outscore the Magic’s, 42-32. “It has given us a lot of pride about ourselves. Around town, we’re gaining respect, and that is very important.”

With Orlando’s leading scorer, Dennis Scott, missing his sixth consecutive game with inflammation in his right leg, the Clippers had more of a game than they wanted. The Magic (6-15) shot 55% the first half and was only down, 54-53, at intermission.

The game was tied as late as 62-62, exactly when the Clippers, three wins shy of the Buffalo Braves’ franchise record for consecutive victories, broke away. A 25-10 run took care of that, giving them an 87-72 lead and leg room for the rest of the night.

The Clippers (14-10) didn’t stop there, either, not even after outscoring the Magic, 35-23, in the third quarter. In the fourth, they pushed the advantage to 105-87 on Harper’s three-pointer, and never let it drop below 11 again.

They finished with 51.8% shooting, the fourth time in eight games they broke 50.

Jerry Reynolds scored 30 points for the Magic with 30 points.

Clipper Notes

The swelling and pain subsided a bit in his right knee, but Charles Smith still didn’t play. He was in uniform, but Coach Mike Schuler had no intention of playing Smith, who didn’t even tape his ankles before the game. . . . Trainer Keith Jones, in a preliminary report, listed Smith as questionable for Tuesday’s game at Seattle. Even if he does play, there will be conditions, the carryover to the first setback in his return from arthroscopic surgery. To guard against continued problems, the medical staff has decided to limit Smith to about 20 minutes in the back-to-back situation of the SuperSonics Tuesday and Golden State Wednesday.

Ron Harper played at least 40 minutes in four of six games before going 39 against the Magic. In the last six outings, he’s averaging 41.9, pushing his team lead to 38. . . . The Clippers have been complimentary toward the fans and their boisterous nature, but small numbers are making the noise. Even in the midst of the greatest run since the team moved from San Diego, the Clippers are only averaging 9,668 in 15 home dates. And that, per league policy, is tickets distributed and not necessarily the actual attendance.