Manning Displays His Acumen

Center Rich Manning, signed to a 10-day contract before Tuesday night’s 10-point loss at Miami, had eight points and one rebound in his Clipper debut in Thursday night’s 113-94 victory at Orlando.

“The first day I got in here, Coach [Bill Fitch] went over the offense with me and I had a practice to get adjusted,” Manning said. “A lot of it is what you run with other teams, so it’s easy to pick it up.”

Clipper guard Darrick Martin, who had 31 points, was impressed with Manning, who made four of seven shots. “He can flat-out play,” Martin said. “He should have been in this league all along.”

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Fitch had no qualms about letting center Lorenzen Wright and guard Pooh Richardson miss Tuesday night’s game at Miami so they could fly home to witness the birth of their children.

“I missed the birth of two of my three [children] because I was playing,” Fitch said. “It’s an individual thing. You’ve got God, family and basketball, and it’s pretty much in that order.”