Clippers Lose Game, Rivers : Pro basketball: Point guard injures hamstring in third quarter of a 101-98 defeat by the SuperSonics.

The Clippers lost a game Thursday night, 101-98 to the Seattle SuperSonics, but maybe much more.

They lost Doc Rivers for at least a week because of a strained left hamstring, which will be re-evaluated this morning in Los Angeles by team physician Tony Daly. If the strain is found to be a pull, Rivers will be out a minimum of “10-plus days” and possibly headed to the injured list, trainer Keith Jones said.

“It’s a bad strain right now,” Jones said. “With a hamstring, that’s usually a minimum of seven days. We won’t know for sure what it is until he sees Dr. Daly.”

Rivers was injured with 5:04 left in the third quarter at Seattle Coliseum as he ran at the three-point line en route to an attempted layup that was halted by Gary Payton’s foul. After Rivers got up slowly, the Clippers called time out, but then he made the two free throws and decided to stay in.

After clearly struggling, Rivers was not simply taken out of the game. Jones waved him directly to the locker room.

“I’ve never had a hamstring problem,” Rivers said. “That’s why I thought it was a cramp. But I took another step and knew it was something.

“At that time, I knew it was bad. I told Keith to let me shoot these free throws, that I would stretch out a bit and then come back in. He looked at me. He knew.”

With Rivers out and Gary Grant home with a strained abdominal muscle, the Clippers (19-20) again turned to recent signee Danny Young, who played the rest of the way without a break.

Coach Mike Schuler said he will decide on his starting point guard, Grant or Young, for tonight’s game against Atlanta at the Sports Arena after getting the medical update on Grant.

This was also a turbulent day for the SuperSonics, playing their first game since coach K.C. Jones was fired. Longtime assistant Bob Kloppenburg, from Marshall High in Los Angeles and USC, took over on an interim basis and won when Ricky Pierce scored 14 of his 26 points and Shawn Kemp got 10 of his 16 in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers, also playing without Charles Smith, had an 87-80 lead with 8:46 remaining, but the SuperSonics went ahead with a 10-0 run. The game went back and forth until Kemp put Seattle in front for good, 99-98, with two free throws with 42 seconds left.

The Clippers’ next two possessions resulted in Ron Harper’s pass intended for Loy Vaught--who had just cut the other way toward the basket--going out of bounds and Harper’s running shot coming down the right side being deflected by Benoit Benjamin. Harper and Schuler said Pierce fouled Harper on the attempt.

Kemp had two free throws the final nine seconds to give Seattle a 101-98 lead.

Clipper Notes

By a coincidence of the television schedule, Mike Fratello, linked immediately to any coaching openings these days, arrived in Seattle to do the game for Channel 13 the day after K.C. Jones was fired. Fratello, in his second season as a Clipper television analyst, said he has not had any contact with the SuperSonics, but added: “I’d be flattered if they called and I was the guy they thought they wanted to talk to. It’s a great opportunity to sit down and talk and find out what they want, what the niche is they’re trying to fill.”

Among the other names tossed out by Seattle media as possible replacements for Jones, but unconfirmed by the team, is Don Casey, a former Clipper coach. Casey, an assistant with the Boston Celtics, has not had contact with the SuperSonics.