Lakers Complete Clipper Sweep

The Lakers own L.A.

They swept the Clippers for the first time since 1990-91, beating them for the second time in two nights, 112-108, Wednesday night before an announced sellout crowd of 16,021 at the Sports Arena.

The Lakers didn’t need the injured Magic Johnson to beat the Clippers for the fourth time in four games this season.

“To sweep any team in this league [is an accomplishment] because there’s a lot of balance in the league,” Coach Del Harris said after the Lakers won for the 15th time in their last 17 games.

Cedric Ceballos had 23 points and Nick Van Exel added 22 points and seven assists as the Lakers (32-19) extended their winning streak to a season-high seven games.

Clipper center Brian Williams, a free agent at the end of the season, vowed that he won’t leave until the Clippers dominate the Lakers.

“I want to stay here with the Clippers until we beat the Lakers’ [butts] on a regular basis,” said Williams, who had 20 points and a career-high 18 rebounds. “My work will not be through here.”

At this rate, Williams may spend the rest of his career with the Clippers.

Williams was distraught after the Clippers (17-35) lost for the 15th time in their last 17 games.

“One of these games is going to go our way,” Williams said. “You’ve got to ask if anyone has a black cat on this team. I’m going to sacrifice a chicken before our next game.”

The Clippers, who self-destructed in the second half of Tuesday night’s 17-point loss to the Lakers, didn’t get blown out.

Trailing by 12 points, the Clippers used a 16-7 fourth-quarter spurt to get back into the game.

With the Clippers down 109-104, Williams made a layup to cut it to three and forward Lamond Murray dunked a Williams miss to cut it to 109-108 with 26.7 seconds left.

The Lakers, who inserted four guards into the game after a timeout, ran the clock down to 2.9 seconds before Anthony Peeler made a three-point shot from the right corner.

“We did a good job of cat-and-mousing it,” Harris said. “I know somebody will say, ‘Why didn’t the Clippers foul?’ Well, you’ve got to catch the guy first.”

Said Peeler, who made all three of his three-point shots in the final period and has made 10 of 15 three-point tries in the last seven games: “They were all over the court, hollering ‘foul, foul, foul,’ but we were moving the ball well.”

Clipper guard Terry Dehere said he grabbed Van Exel with 10 seconds left, but the officials didn’t call a foul.

“They just said, ‘play on,’ ” Dehere said. “They let the play go on.”

The Clippers, last in the NBA in attendance, drew their biggest Sports Arena crowd of the season because of Johnson, who ended his 55-month layoff on Jan. 30. But Johnson sat out the game because of a strained right calf.

“I’ll be all right,” Johnson said. “I feel like I should feel--mad, upset. You should be playing and you’re not playing.”

Laker trainer Gary Vitti said, “We’re trying to take care of it, so we don’t get into a chronic situation. He doesn’t really have a severe calf strain where you could say it’s going to be three to six weeks. He has a mild to moderate strain, but he has some scar tissue in there from an old injury. so we just want to make sure we get it right.”

If this had been a crucial game, Johnson could have played, but was held out so that the injury won’t worsen. He will travel with the Lakers to Texas for a two-game trip to play Dallas and Houston.

“I think the soonest you can look for him back is Houston [Saturday night],” Harris said.

Clipper-Laker Notes

Laker Coach Del Harris, who was ejected with 4:08 remaining in Tuesday night’s game by referee Blaine Reichelt, has had several run-ins with Reichelt in the past. “Aw, you know. He and I have had our differences over the years. But nothing serious,” said Harris, whose team was ahead, 113-94, when he drew two technical fouls for protesting a traveling call against Vlade Divac. . . . A Dallas Maverick official called Lon Rosen, Magic Johnson’s agent, after learning that Johnson might not be able to play in Friday night’s game at Reunion Arena and pleaded, “Can’t he just play for a little while?” . . . Clipper swingman Eric Piatkowski, who had averaged only six minutes in his last five games, said he was surprised when Coach Bill Fitch inserted him into Tuesday night’s game. “I almost went into shock,” said Piatkowski, who had six points in eight minutes.

* GOING LOW: The Philadelphia 76ers tied an all-time low for points in a game in a 66-57 loss to the Miami Heat. C7