Substitute Defeats Clippers : Pro basketball: Randy Brown replaces Webb for Sacramento, makes winning basket for undefeated Kings, 99-97.

Later this season, when the Sacramento Kings are in the NBA finals, probably against the Milwaukee Bucks, this is a game they will remember.

Not merely beating the Clippers at Arco Arena, which happens with regularity. But doing it Tuesday night, 99-97, when Randy Brown, who got the start only because Spud Webb injured his left wrist the game before, lofted in a seven-foot baseline jumper with one second to play.

Improbable?

The franchise is 3-0 for the first time since 1968-69, the days of Oscar Robertson’s Cincinnati Royals, and has beaten three playoffs teams--San Antonio, the Lakers and Clippers.

The Kings are atop the Pacific Division for the first time since moving from Kansas City to California in 1985-86. It’s early, yes, but any success is redefined as momentum here.

Brown, who played 37 minutes, was making his first pro start. He merely went eight of nine from the field, six of six from the free-throw line and finished with a team-high 22 points, including the winning basket.

“We’re 3-0 right now and playing good,” the second-year pro said. “There can’t be a better feeling.”

The Clippers, who fought back from an 11-point third-quarter deficit to force another close finish, are 0-3 and will play Sacramento again tonight at the Sports Arena. Their last chance for a tie and a second overtime of the season ended in disgust, giving disappointment some company.

Taking the ball out at midcourt after Brown’s basket and a timeout, the Clippers got it to Kiki Vandeweghe on the right flat. He gave a pump-fake to Walt Williams, the King rookie coming down as Vandeweghe went up.

The Clippers are still waiting for the foul call. When Vandeweghe did get the shot off, it appeared to be after the buzzer.

“I’m not going to comment on that,” Clipper Coach Larry Brown said of the non-call by Tom Washington. “He (Vandeweghe) got fouled, but that’s not the game. They (the Kings) made plays and converted, and we didn’t.”

The Clippers--who have lost to the Lakers in overtime, at Phoenix by six points and now by two--led only once, at 34-33, during the second quarter. The result was their ninth defeat in 11 games at Arco Arena and, more important, an 0-3 start to the season.

Things do not get much easier from here, even after another game tonight against the Kings. The Clippers then face the Lakers at the Forum, go to Utah to take on the team with last season’s most dominating home-court advantage, then return home to play Detroit, New York and Phoenix again.

Danny Manning led the Clippers with 28 points despite playing most of the way in foul trouble and Ron Harper added 21 points and 10 rebounds. They were without Gary Grant, who stayed in Los Angeles because of flu.

Clipper Notes

Mike Schuler, in his first season as an assistant with the Kings, coached against the Clippers for the first time since being fired midway through the 1991-92 season, but said the game held no special emotion. It’s clear some feelings linger, though--a bad feeling about Mack Calvin, his assistant with the Clippers but no linger with the organization. Speaking of his role in Sacramento as an aide to first-year Coach Garry St. Jean, Schuler said: “It’s really been kind of a joy for me to watch him slide into the chair. One good thing is that he has two assistants who have been head coaches before, who have gone through the trials and tribulations. He also has two good friends who won’t try to stab him in the back.” Meaning Calvin? “Is everybody who was present still on the staff today? That answers your own question,” Schuler said. Schuler, who scouted his former team twice during exhibition play, and St. Jean served together under Don Nelson at Golden State.