Pond Is Good to the Clippers Once Again

The night before, Clipper guard Terry Dehere uttered what has to be the quote of the NBA’s first quarter when, mulling 48-point blowout in Portland, he noted, “This league is too good to get down by more than 50 points and be able to come back.”

So true, so true.

Dehere’s words are the essence of what it means to be a Clipper in these lose 16, win two, lose two same-old-same-old days.

Only a Clipper would say such a thing, because only a Clipper has first-hand knowledge of what a 53-point, fourth-quarter deficit feels like.

And only a Clipper, after falling behind by 53 points in Portland, would ever fathom the very idea of coming back.

Coming back by when, Terry?

Next Tuesday?

Actually, the Clippers needed just 24 hours.

Well, that and a return to the Orange County welcome wagon, also known the undiscriminating Pond, where the Clippers are treated like NBA royalty, greeted with a crowd of 17,277 one night after flirting with another franchise record for incompetence (Biggest Margin of Defeat--51 points--in this case).

Well, that and a return to the Orange County welcome wagon and a visit by the Golden State Warriors minus one Don Nelson (in the hospital with pneumonia), one Billy Owens (in Miami), one Chris Webber (in Landover, Md., or last we heard) and one Tim Hardaway after bruising his knee in the first quarter and missing virtually the entire second half.

For the Clippers, that was all they needed, not counting the Warriors’ 25 turnovers, 40% field-goal shooting and goofball management of the game’s final 90 seconds.

After leading by 15, the Clippers watched their lead melt to one with 1:28 remaining, before holding their breath and holding on for an 89-82 escape.

That’s three victories in the last five for the Clips, who are 3-18 now and on pace for 11.7 victories this season, which are about 5.7 more than most predictions around the country 10 days ago.

“Let’s see,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said, ticking them off on his fingers.

“We’ve won one on the road, one at home and one in Anaheim.”

He beamed.

“We’re moving in the right direction.”

Thursday’s U-turn was as unexpected as they come. Portland had been an out-and-out catastrophe, even by Clipper standards--a 121-73 romp that left Fitch making shellshocked comparisons to the Bataan death march.

“This was a good growth night,” Fitch surmised. “If a team’s ever going to step up and show some character, this was a good time to do it.

“That one (Wednesday) night could have cost us a dearly. A young team getting hit hard like that . . . “

Fitch was eager to purge that one from the memory, which is why he was happy to fly down the coast and promptly play the Warriors, jet lag or not. “Better this way,” he said, “than to miss two or three night’s sleep thinking about it.”

Then, Thursday morning, he gathered his players in the film room and showed them an edited-for-your-viewing-displeasure reel of “the ugliest parts of the Portland game. I used that as a demonstration--’This is not going to happen tonight.’ ”

Then, it was gone.

Or so Fitch hoped.

By game time, Fitch threw this starting front line at Golden State: 6-foot-9 Loy Vaught, 6-8 Charles Outlaw and 6-7 Lamond Murray.

Fitch thought he hadn’t deployed a front line so small “since college. That would be small for college nowadays.

“But, like we always say: ‘Interchangeable parts.’ ”

Murray, Sealy, Outlaw, Vaught, Fish, Piatkowski. Interchangeable parts? As in who can tell the difference?

Hasn’t that been the Clippers’ problem all along?

This time, though, the Clippers’ interchangeable parts outworked the Warriors’ replacement parts. Tom Gugliotta still hasn’t replaced Webber in any way, shape or concept. Clifford Rozier was also in the Warriors’ starting lineup, mainly occupying space. And when Hardaway went out, Keith Jennings went in.

“Keith Jennings is a fine player,” Fitch said diplomatically before breaking down and admitting, “If I’ve got to play them, I’d rather play them with Hardaway out of there.”

So the mini-Clippers did just enough--shot 43.9%, made two three-pointers, managed 89 points--to slip past the semi-Warriors.

Someone asked Fitch if he had any sympathy for Golden State.

“I sympathize with Don Nelson,” Fitch replied, “because he’s sick. I hope it’s not serious. You never want to see anybody get sick . . .

“As for the other trouble they’ve had, Webber and all that, well, everybody in this league’s got trouble.”

Trouble, mister. Fitch can show you trouble.

“Sympathy?” Fitch said, chuckling at the very idea. “If you’re looking for sympathy, you better get it out of a dictionary.”