Clippers Welcomed and Beaten : Pro basketball: Owens (34 points) exploits matchups as Heat gets relief in 105-96 victory.

Clippers to the rescue.

With Pat Riley’s Miami Heat sinking out of sight, who should turn up but the Clippers, who spent most of Saturday night in their young-and-clueless incarnation before rallying too late and losing, 105-96.

The Clippers went 1-3 on this trip, playing a good game in Charlotte and one good quarter in each of the two stops since. That’s not good enough but that’s life for a rebuilding team.

The Heat team that pushed them around for three quarters, running up a 17-point lead, was no better than they were, with starters Alonzo Mourning and Sasha Danilovic still out and eight losses in 10 games. However, there was no question who were the men and who were the boys. The Clippers were outrebounded, 45-30.

“This whole trip has been a nightmare trying to get the ball off the boards,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said. “If I was to have one New Year’s wish, it would be that we would get physically tougher around the basket.”

Fitch’s center, Brian Williams, scored 21 points but took two rebounds, fewer than either guard, Pooh Richardson (three) or Malik Sealy (five).

Of course, Richardson and the backup point, Terry Dehere, were having a little problem holding on to the ball. In a grisly second quarter, Dehere turned the ball over twice in a row, whereupon Fitch sent Richardson back into the game. However, Dehere had to stay in for one more play--in which he turned the ball over a third time.

Back in, Richardson turned it over twice himself before halftime as the Heat moved into a 10-point lead.

It grew to 17 in the third quarter when Owens made six of seven shots. None of Fitch’s small forwards could guard the 6-foot-9 Owens, and he finally put power forward Loy Vaught on him. Owens beat Vaught too, and finished with a night to remember: 34 points, 10 rebounds and four assists.

Trailing by 17 in the third quarter, by 14 at the start of the fourth, the Clippers, using a lineup with Brent Barry at forward, rallied. Sealy’s running five-footer with 3:51 left cut it to 91-88 but that was as close as the Clippers got. Heat point guard Bimbo Coles, who had two points, scored nine more in the last 1:30, and that did it.

Owens has been a new player under Riley, which is at least mildly surprising since Owens came with a reputation of being a career underachiever and Riley came with a reputation of disliking such players.

Soon after Riley’s arrival, the outspoken Owens said the coach had mentioned to him that some people thought he was a malingerer. Owens said it sounded as if Riley believed them.

“A lot of it was on me to come out and play 100%,” Owens said Saturday. “I didn’t do that in the past.

“Last season was a joke year for me. I didn’t handle the trade [from Golden State] well. I really didn’t care about basketball, to be honest. . . . Maybe last year if I had an injury, I nursed it a little.”

OK, it’s a major surprise it has worked out but Owens is playing the best basketball of his career and thanks Riley for it.

“He’s definitely good for me because he pushes me,” Owens said. “He doesn’t take nobody’s side. He treats everybody equally. He’s like the coach I had in high school who didn’t treat me like a superstar. I used to get thrown out of practice in high school.”

When Fitch was with the Nets, he wanted to draft Owens but was overruled by management, which took Kenny Anderson. So Owens’ game wasn’t a total surprise to Fitch.

“Of course, his free throws left a little to be desired,” Fitch said. “I guess when you get 34 points and miss eight free throws and your team wins, you can live with yourself.”