Clippers Can’t Handle Portland : Pro basketball: Williams comes up short against 7-foot-3 Sabonis in 113-94 loss, their second in a row.

Clipper center Brian Williams has been forced to play more minutes because his backup, Stanley Roberts, has been out with a sore right heel.

“It puts a lot of heat on Brian Williams,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “It’s tough when you play back to back. Tonight he’ll really feel it.”

Williams, who was playing his fourth game in five nights, had his hands full trying to guard Arvydas Sabonis, the Portland Trail Blazers’ 7-3 reserve center.

It showed as the Trail Blazers handed the Clippers their second consecutive loss, 113-94, Monday night before 20,381 at the Rose Garden, Portland’s new 21,400-seat arena.

The attendance figure ended a streak of 814 consecutive sellouts, the longest streak in pro sports history.

Sabonis, who began the game shooting a team-high 61.5%, made all nine of his shots and scored a season-high 20 points, 14 in the first half.

Surprisingly agile for a 300-pounder, Sabonis set up teammate Aaron McKie for a layup with a nifty bounce pass through the lane in the second quarter.

Sabonis, who had four assists, also threw a behind-the-back pass to set up teammate James Robinson for an uncontested fourth-quarter layup, but Robinson was so surprised by the pass that he missed the shot.

The Trail Blazers drafted Sabonis in 1986, but it took them nine years to get him away from the Soviet Union.

Sabonis, 30, has been slowed by a ruptured Achilles’ tendon and several knee injuries, but he’s still a marvelous passer with great natural instincts.

“He’s as good a passer as there is in the game,” Fitch said of Sabonis. “He writes a book when he plays out there. He’s a guy that’s playing with one leg. You can imagine what he was when he was in his heyday. Even with all the injuries, he’s still a great player. He’s like a 7-3 point guard.”

Williams had a near confrontation with Trail Blazer center Chris Dudley after accidentally elbowing Dudley in the throat in the third quarter.

Williams chased down a loose ball underneath the Portland basket and put his right forearm out to fend off Dudley, who ran into his elbow. Replacement referee Mike Lauerman called an offensive foul on Williams, who protested.

“I just stuck my arm out to create space and he basically walked into my arm,” Williams said. “What do you expect with Capt. Picard out there refereeing?”

Coming off a 21-point loss to the Lakers Sunday night, the Clippers collapsed in the third quarter when they were outscored, 19-0, in a 5:13 Trail Blazer spurt.

“Where we came unglued was when it was 63-62 and [Rodney] Rogers dumped the ball off to [Brent] Barry and they stole it and went ahead,” Fitch said. “We went eight or nine possessions without scoring.

“Both of them looked like they were asleep at the switch. You don’t make plays like that on the road or anywhere and expect the defense not to make the steal.”

Barry, who got lit up by Laker point guard Nick Van Exel in his previous game, couldn’t stop Portland point guard Rod Strickland, who made 11 of 15 shots and scored 27 points.

It ruined a homecoming for Barry, who played at Oregon State.

“It was a little frustrating,” said Barry, who had three points in 13 minutes after getting into early foul trouble.

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Clipper Notes

It was the first time that the Trail Blazers failed to sell out a home game since April 5, 1977. Portland played its first 25 seasons at the 12,800-seat Memorial Coliseum, the NBA’s smallest arena. . . . Clipper reserve point guard Terry Dehere had a season-high 17 points. . . . Clipper center Stanley Roberts, who sat out his third consecutive game because of a sore right heel, was examined Monday by team physician Tony Daly. X-rays were negative for a fracture and he’s listed as day to day. . . . Guard Pooh Richardson, put on the injured list at the start of the season because of a stress fracture in his left foot, was also examined by Daly. Richardson, who returned to practice last Wednesday, is making good progress but no return date has been set.