Clipper Comeback Falls a Little Short

First, the Clippers lost forward Rodney Rogers with an ankle injury, then they lost for the first time in five games, 115-104, Saturday night to the Houston Rockets before an announced 13,485 at the Sports Arena.

Rogers, who has sat out 15 games because of a sprained right ankle, twisted his right ankle when he landed on someone’s foot with 3:16 remaining in the first quarter. He’ll be reexamined today.

“That hurt us a lot,” Coach Bill Fitch said. “I hope we haven’t lost him for as long as we did before because it was evident that when he went out in the first half we didn’t make a very good adjustment. They kicked our tails on the boards.”

The Clippers, whose four-game winning streak began when Rogers returned last week, cut a 22-point first-half deficit to one point in the final quarter at 92-91.

“I liked the second half better than I did the first half,” Fitch said. “If you’re going to beat the world champs you’ve got to play two halves like we did the second half.”

But Rocket guard Clyde Drexler, who averaged 28.3 points in six games against the Clippers last season, and center Hakeem Olajuwon took control as the Rockets ended the game with a 23-13 spurt.

“When those two old [guys] retire, we’ll be able to beat them up all the time,” Clipper center Brian Williams said of Drexler and Olajuwon.

Drexler scored 32 points, 16 in the final quarter. Olajuwon, who had 29 points and 17 rebounds, had 12 points in the fourth quarter.

The Clippers (15-21) weren’t satisfied with staying close to the two-time NBA champion Rockets (25-11).

“There’s no such thing as moral victories,” said Brian Williams, who had 19 points and seven rebounds. “Do you think that will get you to the playoffs? That might work in the NCAA, but we don’t have the same type of draw here. I’m moralistically bankrupt.”

Guard Malik Sealy, who was questionable before the game after hyperextending his knee in Thursday night’s victory over Minnesota, had 27 points and eight rebounds before fouling out.

“It felt pretty good,” Sealy said. “It tightens up when I sit down, so I’m glad Coach Fitch stayed with me.”

With the Clippers trailing by 92-91 after Williams made a hook shot with 3:33 remaining, Olajuwon made a hook and two free throws.

After Loy Vaught made a shot, Drexler made a three-point shot to give the Rockets a 99-93 lead.

Forgoing his usual substitution pattern, Fitch employed his starters for the first 15 minutes of the second half before inserting Terry Dehere in place of Pooh Richardson after Richardson strained his right calf.

The Clippers used a 10-3 run in the first 4 1/2 minutes of the final quarter to cut the Rockets’ lead to 84-82 on Dehere’s layup with 7:34 left.

Richardson, who missed 11 of 15 shots, missed nine of 10 shots in the first half as the Clippers fell behind by 20 points at halftime.

Trailing, 38-30, the Clippers were outscored, 20-8, in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the second quarter. Olajuwon, who had 12 points and 11 rebounds in the first half, had eight points in the spurt.

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Clipper Notes

Center Stanley Roberts, who was expected to return later this month after being placed on the injured list Nov. 30 because of a sprained ankle, has been sidelined by flu. Coach Bill Fitch said Roberts had looked good in practice before he got sick. . . . Rocket forward Robert Horry sat out the game because of tendinitis in both knees. . . . Clipper center Brian Williams made the first three-point basket of his NBA career in the fourth quarter.