Clipper Players Won’t Accept Coach’s Excuses for Their Loss

SAN ANTONIO —  Maybe Don Casey knows exactly what he’s saying. Maybe he is trying to soften the blow for his players, trying to find some reason for a stagnant offense, other than a stagnant offense.

The injury to Ron Harper is a good explanation. The Clipper players, however, don’t go for their coach’s reasoning. They will take the harsh reality of a 106-98 loss to the San Antonio Spurs at HemisFair Arena.

“He wants excuses,” guard Gary Grant said Wednesday night, when the Clippers were held to fewer than 100 points for the second time in the four games that Harper has been out. “It’s not Harper. How is it Harper? Hit him in the corner and let him go one-on-one? We’re just not executing plays. . . . We miss his scoring, sure, but we don’t miss him in terms of executing.

“We’ve had excuses every year. We know we can play. But we beat Seattle without Harper, and they’re a tough team. No one said anything about missing Harper then.”

So, valid opinion or not, Casey shouldn’t try to sell it in the locker room.

“I don’t buy that,” Danny Manning said after making 13 of 20 shots for a career-high 31 points. “There’s no question we miss him, but, in my opinion, not to that extent. We’ve beat good teams without him.”

But the Clippers (18-21) have also lost to bad teams without him. San Antonio, which moved back into a first-place tie with Utah in the Midwest Division at 27-11, certainly doesn’t fit that description, but Casey had reached his conclusion long before this defeat.

“The loss is monumental,” Casey said of Harper’s absence for the rest of the season.

In four games without Harper, the Clippers:

--Have gone 2-2, beating Seattle by 10 and Minnesota by two (with a layup at the buzzer) and losing the two most recent games, Sacramento by 32 and San Antonio by eight.

--Scored an average of 101 points, about two points below their season average.

--Shot a respectable 48.6%.

Wednesday, Manning and Ken Norman, who have combined to take over for Harper at shooting guard, also almost made up for his absence in the scorebook.

Norman finished with 24 points. Manning had 22 in the first half alone. That was against a team whose coach is Manning’s former college coach, Larry Brown, and whose assistant is Manning’s father, Ed.

The Clippers were within 56-53 at halftime.

They lost ground in the third quarter, when the Spurs went ahead, 74-63, with 4:58 left on Willie Anderson’s baseline jump shot. Then, San Antonio finished the quarter with a 7-0 run, making it 87-73.

The Clippers responded by closing the gap to 93-86 with 7:59 to play and then cut it to 95-90 on Charles Smith’s 10-footer from the left baseline with 4:37 remaining.

But the Spurs, who won by a point when the teams met at the Sports Arena in November, made sure there would be no close finishes this time, using an 11-0 surge for a 106-90 cushion with 2:02 left.

“We couldn’t keep it up,” Manning said. “We had the effort for most of the game. We just need to be able to do it for 48 minutes.”

Added Casey, who was concerned how the Clippers would react after Monday’s blowout loss at Sacramento: “I thought our effort was tremendous. “But we really got annihilated by Robinson inside.”

That came as no surprise. David Robinson has done a little of that this season, his rookie year by label only.

“He’s a rookie experience-wise,” Anderson said. “Other than that . . . “

Other than that, Robinson looked the part of a defensive power who should have rookie-of-the-year honors wrapped up by the all-star break. To his already impressive numbers, add 24 points, 11 rebounds and seven blocked shots in this game.

And it was the Spurs’ 17th consecutive victory at the HemisFair, tying a franchise record. They are 18-1 at HemisFair, the only loss was Nov. 8 against Portland.

“It really feels good to tie the home winning record,” said Anderson, who had 21 points. “But it’s going to feel a heckuva lot better when we break it.”

That’s a notion for Charlotte to deal with Jan. 31, not the Clippers. They don’t return until April 12. Ron Harper won’t be part of the team then, either.

Clipper Notes

With his sore left knee showing little sign of improving, Tom Garrick will probably be held out of tonight’s game at Houston. The second-year guard, who has tendinitis, has been held out of two of the last five games and played a total of 18 minutes in the other three, including 11 against the Spurs. “He can’t function,” Coach Don Casey said. “He’s just not well enough.” . . .

Four steals gave San Antonio’s Maurice Cheeks 2,001 for his career, the first person in NBA history to surpass 2,000. . . . Gary Grant had 10 points and 15 assists but also seven turnovers.