This Time, Clippers Victors in Close One

It had been quite awhile since the Clippers had won a close game, so there had to be some doubt as to whether they still knew what to do when such a situation arose again Monday night against the San Antonio Spurs.

Perhaps learning something from Sunday night’s one-point loss to Atlanta, the Clippers were able to take the lead in the closing seconds and keep it this time. They beat the Spurs, 125-121, before 9,613 at the Sports Arena in a game they had every opportunity to lose.

On another night under similar circumstances, maybe they would’ve done just that. But Monday, they used clutch free-throw shooting by Norm Nixon and Derek Smith and all around good play by Marques Johnson to hold off the Spurs.

With 18 seconds left and the Clippers seemingly on the verge of folding again, Smith sank two free throws give the Clippers a 120-117 lead. But the Spurs cut it to one point on a follow shot by Marc Iavaroni with nine seconds left.

Right after Iavaroni’s basket, the Clippers caught the Spurs unaware and it resulted in an easy basket. James Donaldson heaved a length of the court pass to Johnson all alone under the Clipper basket to give the Clippers a 122-119 lead.

It wasn’t over yet, though. Mike Mitchell sank two free throws to make it, 122-121. Nixon was immediately fouled and made both free-throw attempts to clinch the victory. Junior Bridgeman’s free throw with one second left provided the final margin.

The win improved the Clippers’ record to 22-33. The Spurs are 27-27.

Johnson scored 26 points in perhaps his best game of the season. Certainly, it was his best game in the last month. Johnson, bothered in January by a sprained right ankle, had been averaging only 13.4 points in his last eight games. But Monday, he had 16 points in the first half and six crucial points in the fourth quarter.

As well as Johnson played, he wasn’t the Clippers’ star on this night. Derek Smith, who scored a season-low 7 points Sunday against Atlanta, led all scorers with 30 and also had eight rebounds from his off guard spot.

George Gervin led San Antonio with 28 points, but fouled out with 3:36 left and the Spurs trailing, 112-110.

Anyone within earshot of San Antonio Coach Cotton Fitzsimmons knew right away what the Spurs’ game plan was going to be. Every time his team had the ball in the first half, Fitzsimmons screamed for a fast break.

The thinking was that the Clippers would be tired after losing by one point to Atlanta Sunday night.

But in the first half, it was the Clippers who outran the Spurs en route to a 66-61 lead. The Clippers, not usually a running team, mixed several fast breaks with their set offense.

Early in the second quarter, the Clippers outscored San Antonio, 13-4, to take a 48-40 lead. Included in that surge were two fast-break layups, two tip ins off missed layups and two jumps shots from the set offense.

For the Clippers, that constitutes a run-and-gun attack.

From that point, the Clippers settled down but still maintained a slim lead. The Spurs got to within two points twice and three points three times, but never closer.

Leading, 62-59, in the final minute of the half, the Clippers padded the lead with a Donaldson tip in and a fast-break dunk by Harvey Catchings for a five-point halftime lead.

Johnson was the catalyst on many Clipper fast-breaks, scoring 16 first-half points. That total equaled Johnson’s season average. With 4:05 left in the second quarter, Johnson scored a layup that recalled his glory days at Milwaukee. Taking control of the ball at midcourt, Johnson dribbled through a maze of players, changed hands with the ball behind his back and casually flipped it into the basket.

Smith had 13 first-half points, while Bridgeman scored eight of his 10 in the second quarter. All came on jump shots.

Gervin led the Spurs with 17 points, while backcourt mate Johnny Moore added 13. The Spurs made only 24 field goals in the first half but stayed close by making 13 of 18 free-throw attempts. The Clippers attempted only nine free throws, making just four.