Clippers Outlast Trail Blazers

Danny Manning had 34 points, nine rebounds, and a hunch.

“I never thought we were going to lose the game,” he said. “It was just a feeling I had. Not to sound overconfident or cocky, just a feeling I had throughout.”

Manning came away sounding prophetic as the Clippers wasted a 16-point fourth-quarter lead and then hung on to beat the Portland Trail Blazers, 106-100, before a capacity crowd of 15,800 at the Sports Arena.

Manning scored 12 points in the second quarter, 12 in the third and supplied the winning points when he leaned in on Portland’s Jerome Kersey for a nine-foot jump hook with 26 seconds left to break a 100-100 tie. The Clippers finished with four unanswered free throws by Ron Harper, the last of his 26 points, to complete their second victory over the Trail Blazers in a little less than two months.

Playing without injured Clyde Drexler, Portland’s only field-goal attempt after Manning’s basket was by Kevin Duckworth, who missed a short baseline jumper. And the Trail Blazers missed a chance to clinch at least a tie for the Pacific Division title.

Another possession was ruined when Clipper Doc Rivers tied up Terry Porter in the right corner and forced a jump ball. Rivers controlled the tip and got the ball to Harper, who was fouled.

“Parts of this game we would like to bottle and remember,” Coach Larry Brown said after the Clippers won their fifth in a row at home and for the ninth time in 11 games overall. “Then there are parts of this game I’d like to forget.”

Drexler has missed two games this season, both against the Clippers. The first was Feb. 16 at Portland because of a sprained left big toe, and the Clippers capitalized for a 107-106 victory. This time, the league’s No. 4 scorer was out with a hyper-extended right knee, an injury originally suffered March 21 at Utah.

Drexler’s absence was merely the beginning of the Trail Blazers’ problems.

Robert Pack, their rookie reserve guard from USC, dislocated his left shoulder late in the first quarter, went to the locker room with 9:15 left in the second and did not return. Duckworth needed only 3:35 to get two fouls, about 95 seconds less than did Buck Williams, and both had three by halftime.

The Clippers, who reduced their magic number for a playoff berth to four, showed no sympathy.

The Clippers took a 40-29 lead. After the second of two baskets by Harper, Duckworth stepped on the baseline attempting the entry pass. Kersey got a technical, and former Trail Blazer Danny Young converted from the line. Another free throw, by Manning with 6:27 left in the second quarter as part of his 12-point period, put the Clippers ahead, 46-31.

Harper then came to the forefront. He rebounded his own miss for a layup, made a three-point shot from the left side, and, finally, grabbed a tipped rebound and turned that into another layup. Harper’s 11-point quarter helped give the Clippers a 57-40 lead with 1:34 to play.

The Clippers should have gone into intermission with a 57-44 cushion after Charles Smith missed a baseline jumper with one second left on the shot clock, but Norman put it in with three-tenths of a second remaining in the half. So the Clippers headed in with a 59-44 advantage, and a standing ovation from the eighth home sellout of the season.

Things changed a little the third quarter. Well, maybe more than a little.

The Trail Blazers, who made 34.1% of their shots in the first half, made seven of 15 shots to open the second half. Meanwhile, the Clippers made only two of 16 during the same stretch.

“I thought they played very aggressively in the first half,” Trail Blazer Coach Rick Adelman said of the Clippers. “But they relaxed a little bit in the second half when they saw a few of our guys were out because of foul trouble.”

The Trail Blazers closed the gap to 65-63 with a 15-0 charge as the Clippers went 6:57 without a point. But that’s as close as the visitors got in that run, the Clippers mustering enough offense to lead, 80-65, heading into the final quarter.

The Clippers were finally caught at 100-100 and it looked like the night couldn’t end soon enough for Smith, too. Bothered by stomach flu the last two days, he got sick on the court after Manning’s game-winning basket.

The rest of the Clippers decided to celebrate in other ways. Minutes later, though, the Trail Blazers could relate to Smith.

Clipper Notes

Charles Smith played 30 minutes despite his illness, getting 14 points and 12 rebounds. . . . Entering the game, Danny Manning was No. 7 in the league in shooting at 54.3%. . . . Bo Kimble celebrated his 26th birthday Thursday.