Clippers’ Awakening Rude, Courtesy of Playoff Lesson I : Pro basketball: Jazz beats them, 115-97, and shows the value of experience in playing in the postseason.

If the second half of the Clipper season was a dream come true, Friday night was their nightmare. It was an awakening and a reminder that the best Utah Jazz team ever will not budge without at least being pushed.

The Clippers got into the second quarter of the franchise’s first playoff game since 1976, then got knocked into the past tense. They trailed by 27 points in the third, staged what will have to pass for a comeback by closing to within 13 with 7:11 left and finally fell to the Jazz, 115-97, at the Delta Center in Game 1 of the best-of-five first-round series.

“Welcome to the playoffs,” Clipper Coach Larry Brown deadpanned.

The culprits were those the Clippers feared most: Karl Malone had 32 points and 10 rebounds, John Stockton had 21 assists and only one turnover and Jeff Malone had 29 points, 18 in the second half. The Jazz shot 56.4% and were never really challenged in the final two quarters.

Because of that, the Clippers have a new challenge: to come back from a convincing--and at times humiliating--defeat built as much on attitude and approach as execution.

The experience factor?

“It looked to me like it was real significant,” Brown said. “We couldn’t set screens. They set screens. We couldn’t go where we wanted. They went where they wanted. I think they were aware of how the game was supposed to be played.”

Added Jeff Malone: “I think it was a little factor. And we’re tough in this building. We put a lot of pressure on them, and they were not able to respond.”

The night opened with the raising of a banner to commemorate Utah’s Midwest Division title, enough to whip the crowd into a frenzy even before the fireworks were launched in the darkened arena. Then, the Jazz used a starting lineup that had 181 games of postseason experience, compared to nine for the Clippers.

But the Clippers did not appear nervous, one of the concerns coming in. They led, 19-18, even though Gary Grant fouled twice while shadowing John Stockton within the first 1:54. Grant stayed in the game and then got his third foul on the next possession.

The matchups went as expected, the Clippers opting to put center Charles Smith on Utah forward Karl Malone and forward Danny Manning on center Mark Eaton, though the Jazz played it straight with Eaton on Smith. The matchups worked well for both offenses. Smith pulled Eaton outside and hit three consecutive jump shots in the first quarter, and Malone was undaunted by anything the Clippers threw at him.

The Clippers, who lost both games here during a regular season in which Utah compiled a league-best 37-4 record, trailed, 37-33, after Smith hit from the perimeter with 8:14 to play in the second quarter.

Then the Jazz flexed. It went on a 15-5 run to lead, 52-38, with 3:50 to play before halftime. Stockton capped the run when he slid between the big men for an offensive rebound off a missed free throw and passed to Tyrone Corbin for a short jump shot.

By halftime, Utah led, 59-47, and had shot 59.5%. Malone worked over all three Clippers centers--Smith, James Edwards and Olden Polynice--and various double teams. He scored 20 points and had five rebounds in 20 minutes of the first half.

It got ugly from there. The Jazz pushed the advantage to 72-52 with the help of a blocked shot and two Clipper turnovers on successive trips; then to 81-54 with 5:24 to play in the third quarter.

The final points on that Utah burst came when Malone dived on the court to knock Ron Harper’s loose ball ahead to Blue Edwards, who turned it into a slam dunk.

Clipper Notes

Game 2 is at Salt Lake City Sunday. . . . The Game 1 winner has gone on to take 54 of 64 first-round series the last eight years, including six of eight last season. . . . The Clippers tied with New Jersey and Miami for the league’s second-best improvement from last season, a difference of 14 victories. Cleveland led with 24.

Bo Kimble watched the television movie portraying his high school and college years with Hank Gathers with mixed emotions. “It’s impossible to put Hank’s life into 100 minutes,” he said, “but that effort was tremendous.” Kimble said there has been some interest from movie people in adapting his book for the screen.

* A FRESH START

New York, which lost five of its last eight regular-season games, opened the playoffs with a 109-75 rout of Detroit. C14