Manning’s Best Day, but . . . : Pro basketball: Forward scores a career-high 43 points. Clippers still lose to Bulls, 115-111.

Clipper forward Danny Manning, who scored a career-high 43 points in Tuesday night’s 115-111 loss to the Chicago Bulls, wasn’t any happier after the Clippers lost their third consecutive game than his good friend Ron Harper, who scored a season-low four points before being benched late in the third quarter.

“Sure it’s frustrating to lose,” Manning said after the Clippers (6-9) squandered a four-point lead in the final 2:30 and lost their eighth game in a row to the Bulls. “I don’t like to lose to my daughter. I don’t.”

Manning made a career-high 21 of 31 shots and one of three free throws, but the Clippers still lost their 17th consecutive game at Chicago Stadium.

“(The career high) doesn’t mean anything,” Manning said. “It’s nice I guess, on the back of those little sports cards, but we lost the game and that’s all I’m looking at.”

Clipper Coach Bob Weiss benched Harper for the final 15:46 of the game because he thought Harper was out of sync. Harper, who had averaged 37.1 minutes this season, played a season-low 20 minutes. He played only eight minutes in the second half as rookie guard Terry Dehere, who scored a season-high 17 points, replaced him.

“He just didn’t seem to have a handle on it,” Weiss said of Harper. “Every time he drove they seemed to get a hand on the ball. He just seemed out of sync and Terry was going pretty well.”

Harper, who had averaged 26.3 points in the last three games, took the benching in stride.

“If he doesn’t want to play me, he doesn’t want to play me,” Harper said. “What am I supposed to do, go out and shout and pout? That ain’t my style. I’ve got too much class for that. Little kids pout, grown men don’t worry about it.”

Told that Weiss thought he wasn’t in sync, Harper said: “That’s his opinion. I’ll lose no sleep over it tonight. I’ll go watch me a good film and relax. If I don’t play tomorrow night, I’ll still be myself. I still won’t be mad.”

The Clippers had every reason to be mad about the way they played in the final minutes. Leading, 106-102, after Mark Aguirre made a three-point shot with 2:23 to play, the Clippers were outscored, 13-5, as the Bulls (8-7) won their fourth game in a row.

The Clippers, who shot 39% in the fourth quarter, made only two field goals in the final 1:41 and turned over the ball twice.

Bull guard B.J. Armstrong, who had nine of his 20 points in the fourth quarter, jump started the comeback by scoring six consecutive points, making a three-pointer with 2:03 remaining and adding a layup and a free throw with 1:41 to play after Clipper guard Mark Jackson threw the ball away when he tried to hit Manning with a behind-the-back pass.

After Manning sank a jumper to make it 108-108 with 1:19 remaining, the Bulls scored seven consecutive points.

Armstrong made a free throw after he was fouled by Manning with 58 seconds to play. Armstrong missed the second but Toni Kukoc, who had nine of his 15 points in the fourth quarter, scored on a tip-in to give the Bulls a 111-108 lead.

The Clippers froze after Armstrong missed the second free throw because they thought Manning, who had entered the key before Armstrong released the ball, would be called for a lane violation. But the officials didn’t call it.

“Danny lost his balance and stepped in the lane early and he expected a whistle to blow,” Weiss said. “And nothing blew and Kukoc tapped it in and everybody stood there stunned.”

Manning said he compounded his mistake by not continuing to play until the officials stopped play.

“I knew I was in and I didn’t get back out,” Manning said. “But you’re supposed to keep playing. I didn’t hear a whistle and I should have kept playing and I didn’t.”

The Clippers, who had 24 turnovers, turned the ball over again when Pippen intercepted an Aguirre pass. Pippen, who had a team-high 24 points, made a free throw after he was fouled by Dehere to give the Bulls a four-point lead with 43 seconds to play.

The Clippers ran a play for Dehere, but he missed a three-point attempt and Aguirre, who got the rebound, missed a follow shot from three-point range.

After Pete Meyers made a free throw with 10.4 seconds to play, Dehere sank a three-pointer for the final margin.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers will probably activate guard Randy Woods from the injured list for tonight’s game at Milwaukee to replace center Stanley Roberts, who is sidelined for the season after rupturing his right Achilles tendon in last Saturday’s loss to the Lakers. . . .Elmore Spencer started at center in place of Roberts against the Bulls and had four points, three rebounds and five blocked shots in 26 minutes. . . . The Bulls played without forward Horace Grant, who was home with flu. Rookie forward Corrie Blount started the first game of his NBA career in place of Grant.. . . Bull center Bill Cartwright sat out the game with sore knees. Cartwright has missed five of the last six games.