San Antonio’s Three-Pointers Point the Way to a Clipper Loss : Pro basketball: Spurs hit NBA record-tying 10 shots from long range in the first half of a 100-91 victory.

San Antonio Spur center David Robinson has given the Clippers fits in the past, scoring a team-record 71 points against the Clippers in the final game of the 1993-94 season to edge Shaquille O’Neal for the NBA scoring title.

The Clippers contained Robinson in Saturday night’s game against the Spurs, holding him to 20 points and seven rebounds, but they didn’t do much else right, falling behind by 24 points in the third quarter and losing, 100-91, before an announced crowd of 7,600 at the Sports Arena.

It was the Spurs’ three-point shooting in the first half--when they made 10 long-range shots--that proved the Clippers’ undoing.

“It was a bad night all the way around,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “We couldn’t get started. I think the best thing about tonight was the crowd. A year ago, if we got behind, they might have been cheering for the Spurs or they might have given up on us, but they didn’t. I’d give the game ball to our crowd tonight. I thought they stayed with us with through a game where we were ugly a lot of times.”

What went wrong for the Clippers, who shot only 37.8%?

“That’s the eternal question,” said center Brian Williams, who missed 10 of 14 shots and had 12 points and eight rebounds.

“Is this the worst game? Considering the circumstances, yes it’s the worst game. It wasn’t a road game, we didn’t play back-to-back and we didn’t have a team weakened by sickness or injury.”

Robinson, ejected from Friday night’s loss to the Seattle SuperSonics for throwing a punch, scored 17 points in the second half, making five of eight shots and seven of nine free throws as the Spurs beat the Clippers for the eighth game in a row.

A Spur official said the club does not expect Robinson to be suspended or fined after the NBA reviews the videotape of the game. He said the officials erred.

Guard Vinny Del Negro had 21 points, including 19 in the first half, as San Antonio ended a two-game losing streak.

The Clippers cut it to 92-83 when forward Loy Vaught, who had 21 points and 14 rebounds, made his first three-pointer of the season with 4:17 remaining in the fourth quarter, but the Spurs held them off.

Off to their best start since 1976-77, the Clippers, who won seven of their first 12 games, face one of the toughest portions of their schedule, playing two games against the Spurs, the two-time NBA champion Houston Rockets, the three-time NBA champion Chicago Bulls and the defending Eastern Conference champion Orlando Magic.

“You don’t look any further than the one you’re going to play,” Fitch said. “They’re all tough and you know you’re going to fish in troubled waters, so you check all the lines to make sure you’re ready for it.”

The Clippers (7-6) didn’t catch anything.

Guard Brent Barry, who had started the last nine games, was benched at the start of the third quarter after getting only one point and one assist in 10 minutes in the first half. He finished with 11 points and three assists in 27 minutes.

Malik Sealy missed nine of 13 shots and scored only 12 points in 32 minutes.

The Clippers shot only 23.8% in the first quarter and trailed by 21 points at halftime as the Spurs made 10 three-pointers in the half, tying an NBA record. They wound up making 11 of 20 three-pointers to tie a team record for most three-pointers in a game.

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Clipper Notes

Center Stanley Roberts, who missed three games last week because of a sore right heel, wore a special shoe with the heel cut out and padding around the edges to relieve the pressure. The shoe was modified by Clipper trainer Keith Jones. “I call it Air Jones,” Roberts joked. “I tried them on today during the shoot-around and they take the pressure off. I’m just hoping the soreness will go away. If the shoe works the way it should work I should have no more problems.” Roberts, who came up limping after stopping Robinson on a drive just after entering the game in the second quarter, remained in the game, scoring one point in seven minutes in the first half. . . . Replacement referees William Kennedy and Larry Onusz called a total of 67 fouls, including 21 in the third quarter.