Clippers’ Olowokandi Learns the No. 1 Lesson

The first NBA game featuring the league’s last two No. 1 draft picks was not much of a matchup Saturday night at the Alamodome.

San Antonio’s Tim Duncan, last season’s top pick, had the clear edge over the Clippers’ Michael Olowokandi and so did the Spurs as they breezed to a 103-82 victory before 17,915.

Duncan, who had a career-high 39 points two nights earlier against Vancouver, had 17 points and 12 rebounds compared to Olowokandi’s 13 and 10, with nearly half of his totals coming in fourth-quarter garbage time.

The defeat dropped the Clippers to 3-28 and kept them on pace to challenge the league’s all-time worst winning percentage for a season, held by the 1972-73 Philadelphia 76ers, who had a 9-73 record (.110). After 31 games, the Clippers’ winning percentage is .097.

Considering that the Spurs improved to 16-2 over their last 18 games, the result should not have been a surprise, nor should Duncan’s advantage over Olowokandi, who was on the injured list the first time the Clippers played San Antonio and has played less than 110 games of organized basketball.

“[Duncan and Olowokandi] are different kinds of players with different backgrounds,” said Clipper assistant Jim Brewer, a former NBA center who has spent a lot of time working with Olowokandi. “Tim has always been a scoring type of center who has played that role all the way up [to the NBA]. Michael doesn’t have as much experience. . . . In a few more years maybe it would be fair to compare them once Michael has more experience. Now, it is too soon to tell.”

Duncan, last season’s rookie of the year, also had the help of fellow big man David Robinson, who played after sitting out a game because of an inflamed left knee.

Robinson had 19 points and 13 rebounds against the Clippers and the Spurs also received a strong game from Mario Ellie, who had 19 points, and Avery Johnson, who had 11 points and eight assists.

The Clippers, who have lost four in a row since their blowout victory over Utah, were led by Maurice Taylor’s 25 points. Taylor bounced back after scoring seven points at Dallas on Thursday. He had scored 10 or more points in 26 straight games.

“Mo got hot there in the second quarter and was taking their bigger guys inside,” Clipper Coach Chris Ford said about Taylor, who had five rebounds. “He was scoring points well tonight but again both Mo and Michael have to be consistent rebounders for us to stay in the hunt.”

The Spurs, who defeated the Clippers by 29 points at San Antonio last month, jumped on top early. Robinson and Ellie combined for 17 points and San Antonio held the Clippers to 36.4% shooting in taking a 28-17 lead after one quarter.

The Clippers rallied early in the second with a 13-0 run, highlighted by a Lamond Murray dunk over Robinson and a three-point basket by Troy Hudson. But after the Clippers closed within 37-34, the Spurs finished the half strong to take a 55-45 lead.

San Antonio extended its lead to 68-53 early in the third quarter following consecutive baskets by Johnson, but again the Clippers stayed close. With a frontline of Lorenzen Wright, Brian Skinner and Taylor, the Clippers fought back to trail, 77-68, entering the fourth.

In the fourth, the closest the Clippers could get was 84-76. San Antonio outscored the Clippers, 19-6, to finish the game.

Olowokandi and Duncan are scheduled to meet one more time when the Spurs travel to the Sports Arena on April 26. Until then, Olowokandi’s learning year will continue.

“Games like these give Michael a measure of the kind of opponent he has to go through in order to reach the level he is after and in order to do that he has to play against these type of opponents,” Brewer said. “[Various big men] all present a different problem. . . . One may give you quickness, the other may have an outside shot and another may be a guy who plays a power game down low. You have to learn how to play those guys effectively on the defensive end and also what you can do to score against them offensively.”