Clippers Are Up to Task : Pro basketball: Despite the presence of 7-6 Shawn Bradley, team overcomes the 76ers and wins, 96-86.

The Clippers got their first look at the leaning tower of Philadelphia, 7-foot-6 rookie Shawn Bradley, and got dizzy.

Bradley blocked five of their shots and they missed a lot of the others before breaking open a tied game in the fourth quarter and beating the 76ers, 96-86, Monday night in the Sports Arena.

“I think we had a lot of trouble adjusting to Bradley,” Coach Bob Weiss said.

“He took away all our stuff going to the basket. We had guys going down the lane throwing the ball up in the air.”

Said Danny Manning: “He changes a lot of shots. He’s a very big man.”

Said Mark Jackson: “I think a lot of people have said different things about him, but he really has some talent.”

The Clippers took an 11-point lead in the second quarter, then saw the 76ers barge back into the game. The 76ers led, 75-73, in the opening moments of the fourth quarter before Manning made a running five-footer to start an 8-0 run that put the Clippers ahead to stay.

The teams battled through an even third period and came out, tied, 73-73. But the Clippers went ahead to stay early in the fourth quarter on two free throws by Ron Harper and eased away.

Afterward, Bradley, dressed in one of the longest black leather trench coats seen in the Sports Arena, chalked it up to experience.

“I realized that it was going to be like this,” he said of his early struggles. “There were going to be ups and downs. There’s not any experience I have that’s a bad experience because I’m so inexperienced.

“You’ve got to give Philadelphia fans the credit. They’ve been very patient, a lot more patient than I was told they would be.”

Bradley came into the night off one of his weaker performances--eight points and four rebounds in 16 minutes in a loss to the Miami Heat.

However, he had the Clippers’ attention.

“He looks good,” said Clipper center Elmore Spencer before the game. “Probably of all the people over 7-4, he’s the most coordinated.”

“Which includes?” asked teammate Tom Tolbert, laughing.

“Manute (Bol),” Spencer said. “Tom Burleson. Who’s that dude? Chuck Nevitt?”

Bradley then proceeded to outscore Spencer, 7-0, in the first quarter, and outrebound him, 5-3, and outblock him, 2-1, as the 76ers gained an early lead. It was 18-10 when Weiss called a timeout to regroup and 21-14 when the Clippers rallied.

They hit the Sixers with a 13-0 run late in the first quarter, gained the lead and kept going in the second quarter.

Clipper Notes

Loy Vaught scored 19 points and took 21 rebounds, tying his season high. . . . Danny Manning had 21 points and 15 rebounds but missed 17 of his 25 shots, eight in a row in one stretch of the second and third quarters, including an uncontested tomahawk dunk. “I know I missed about 10 jumpers on the baseline with no one on me,” he said. “I didn’t have it tonight, bottom line.” . . . Manning on missing the dunk: “If that’s the most embarrassing thing that ever happens in my life, I’ve got it made.” . . . Gary Grant scored eight points in the fourth quarter as the Clippers outscored the 76ers, 23-13. “Gary was terrific tonight,” Coach Bob Weiss said. . . . John Williams, home for Christmas, flew back to Durham, N.C. and the Duke weight-loss program but the Clippers say he looks better. “He could be playing in a couple of weeks,” Weiss said. . . . The crowd was announced at 11,437. . . . It was Philadelphia’s fourth loss to the Clippers in 19 meetings.