Magic Escapes Clippers at Last : Pro basketball: Orlando trails, 93-84, before Hardaway leads comeback, 116-105.

After letting potentially the biggest upset of the NBA season slip through their clawing fingers, the Clippers didn’t know whether to be encouraged that they came so close to beating the Orlando Magic Friday night, or distraught that the consistency and maturity they’ve lacked all season remain beyond their grasp.

For a few electrifying hours at the Orlando Arena, the Clippers rose from the muck of humiliating losses and terrible shooting to dominate the league’s most powerful team.

When it was over, after Anfernee Hardaway’s splendid performance in the fourth and overtime periods had lifted the Magic to a 116-105 victory, the Clippers were left to sort out what to salvage from the evening and what to forget.

Worth remembering: a searing third quarter, in which the Clippers shot 65.5% from the field (15 for 23) and built an 85-80 lead, and the opening minutes of the fourth quarter, up to the three-point shot by Pooh Richardson that gave them a 93-84 lead with 8:41 to play and threatened to deal the Magic its first home loss in 13 games.

Worth forgetting: the Clippers’ 29% shooting in the final quarter, and the assertive, penetrating drives of Hardaway, who did more damage with his 36 points and five assists than NBA scoring leader Shaquille O’Neal did with his 38 points and 10 rebounds.

“We hung in there, man,” said Richardson, who had 18 points and 11 assists. “If we can do this every night, we’d have a little more than four wins.”

That’s the problem. The Clippers (4-25) can’t get near that level in consecutive quarters, much less in consecutive games. And that’s why, 24 hours after losing by 43 points to the mediocre Miami Heat Thursday night, they scared the Magic (23-6) but couldn’t pull off a David-and-Goliath finish.

“It’s a tough loss, to take it to overtime and lose it after playing so well throughout the whole game,” said forward Lamond Murray, who scored 11 of his 17 points in the third quarter.

Coach Bill Fitch said: “It was a good effort tonight against a good ballclub, especially coming off (Thursday) night’s ballgame, which was tough for us to swallow from the standpoint of the final score and the way we played. You never know how you’re going to come back with a young team on a night like this, and I thought they responded well.”

The Clippers held their last lead, 99-97, on a layup by Murray off a scramble underneath the basket with 3:04 to play, and got two free throws from Tony Massenburg with 27.5 seconds left to pull even at 101-101. Hardaway missed a three-point shot with about four seconds left, setting up a last-ditch chance by Richardson with 3.2 seconds to go, but his downcourt fling wasn’t even close.

Orlando controlled the overtime from the opening tip, scoring the first nine points--five by Hardaway--and stifling the Clippers.

Clipper Notes

Randy Woods, who was struck in the groin Thursday at Miami and taken to a hospital there for treatment of hemorrhaging, rejoined the Clippers in Orlando Friday morning. He played two minutes Friday.