Spurs Hold Off Clippers, 102-99

San Antonio Spur Coach John Lucas paced the Sports Arena sidelines like an expectant father while the Spurs opened a 19-point third-quarter lead against the Clippers Monday night.

If Lucas looked this nervous as the Spurs were blowing out the Clippers, how would he react during a nail-biter?

Lucas found out during the fourth quarter as the Spurs held off the Clippers, 102-99, before a crowd of 15,989 for their eighth consecutive victory.

Trailing by 88-71 at the end of the third quarter, the Clippers outscored the Spurs, 20-5, in the first 7:15 of the fourth quarter to pull to 93-91 with 4:45 remaining.

Guard Ron Harper, who had 18 of his 26 points during the fourth quarter, scored 14 points in the Clipper run, making four of five shots from the field.

“I felt (in) the zone,” said Harper, who made six of 10 shots during the final quarter. “That’s what people call it. It just felt good. I had to go for it. Guys were passing the ball to me and we needed a little spark. I was trying to be that spark.”

Trailing by two points after Harper made a shot from the top of the key with 5:10 remaining, the Clippers had a chance to tie the score. But Dale Ellis blocked Harper’s shot and then made a three-pointer to give San Antonio a 96-91 lead with 4:16 remaining.

Harper responded with a dunk with 2:51 remaining and Danny Manning, who had 19 points and 10 rebounds, made a follow shot after Stanley Roberts missed two free throws with 2:20 remaining to make the score 96-95.

Harper gave the Clippers their first lead since the first quarter when he sank a fade-away 18-footer to make the score 97-96 with 1:41 to play. But Ellis, who had 22 points, responded with a basket to make the score 98-97.

After Manning made a follow shot to give the Clippers a 99-98 lead, the Clippers had a chance to increase their lead after David Robinson threw away the ball with 37 seconds remaining.

But Mark Jackson missed a shot and Robinson, who had 22 points, eight rebounds and three blocked shots, dunked to give the Spurs a 100-99 lead with 10 seconds to play.

The Clippers, who had one timeout left, didn’t use it to set up a play and Harper missed a 15-foot shot over Ellis with five seconds left and Loy Vaught missed a follow tip. Harper fouled Sean Elliott while battling for a rebound and Elliott made two free throws with 0.5 seconds remaining.

“I’ll trade one night’s slam dunk and a couple of shots to make that one I missed,” said Harper, who made 10 of 20 shots. “That was a good shot.”

Why didn’t the Clippers call a timeout to set up a better shot?

“Coach (Larry) Brown said to go for it,” Harper said. “We thought the Spurs were fatigued. He told us if they scored to push it down.

“It’s a very tough game to lose, but I think we proved to ourselves that if we put our minds to it, we can play as a team. This last quarter just showed us that.”

Jackson agreed.

“We played great, especially when we were in the hole,” Jackson said. “If we had played that way the whole game, there wouldn’t have been much of a game. Now we know we can beat anybody when we put it together for 48 minutes.”

Clipper Notes

The Spurs, who are 23-3 since Coach John Lucas replaced Jerry Tarkanian on Dec. 18, suffered three injuries in the final two minutes of the game. Forward Antoine Carr, who had 19 points in the first three quarters, suffered a possible broken left hand. He will be re-examined today. Point guard Avery Johnson, who had been the key to San Antonio’s recent success, suffered a dislocated the little finger on his right hand. The Spurs are 18-1 since Johnson moved into the lineup. Forward Sean Elliott suffered a back injury. . . . Clipper General Manager Elgin Baylor said the club hasn’t decided whether to re-sign guard Lester Conner, whose 10-day contract expires today.