Same Song, Different Verse for Clippers in 107-106 Loss to Spurs

The scene has been replayed over and over this season for the Clippers: close call at the end, coaches get the tape immediately after the game and watch the crucial play. No one leaves the room happy.

It happened again Sunday night, and the ending was no different, a 107-106 loss to San Antonio at the Sports Arena. Maybe the Clippers should at least get residuals because they’re not getting any victories in these things.

“No matter how hard we play,” Coach Don Casey said, pleased and frustrated at the same time, “we need to get some W’s.”

The plot worked to perfection for a while, the Clippers having come from 13 points down late in the third quarter to keep pressure on San Antonio. They even led one of the league’s best teams, 106-105, when Ken Norman hit two free throws with 15.4 seconds left.

And then . . .

San Antonio got the ball in the low post to David Robinson, who went left into the lane. He collided with Charles Smith, who was standing with his back to the ball while guarding another Spur. Referee Tommy Nunez called Smith for the foul.

Robinson made both free throws with 7.3 seconds remaining to give San Antonio the victory, the Clippers’ final attempt having resulted in a Winston Garland airball from the right baseline when the 7-foot-1 Robinson came out to challenge.

And so it goes, the Clippers’ sixth one-point defeat of the season. The routine of close losses, not surprisingly, may be wearing thin.

“They are young enough to be resilient,” Casey said of his team. “But we need a win to get uplifted. I’m tired of these endings, and I think the players are, too.”

The Clippers haven’t won since Feb. 8, the final game before the All-Star break, in a run that stretches seven games. Even longer, they have lost 14 of 17, and are 21-33 overall.

But not always playing like it.

“It’s frustrating, but we’ve been better the last few games,” said Smith, who played only five minutes in the first half because of foul trouble but finished with 17 of his team-high 23 points in the final two quarters. “I saw a lot out there tonight. I think we’ve got a team, and we are going to start a winning streak.”

What he, and the crowd of 14,041, saw was the Clippers falling behind by 12 points in the first quarter and 14 in the second. They came back to tie the game by halftime, 62-62, with a 9-2 run in the final 1:51 of the period.

And then they scored 17 points in the third quarter, taking on another double-digit deficit, including 84-71 with 2:57 left on Robinson free throws for two of his 26 points, to go with 14 rebounds and five blocked shots. The Clippers made five of 20 shots in the third period.

In the fourth, they cut the lead to three points when Garland, in his first game as a Clipper after being acquired from Golden State last Thursday for two second-round draft choices, connected on a 20-foot jump shot. But the San Antonio cushion soon went back to seven, then dropped to one, and, finally, the Clippers tied the score, 100-100, on Smith’s jump shot from the foul line with 2:16 to play.

Their first lead since 2-0 came moments later when as Manning made two free throws with 1:41 left in a 102-100 game. Rod Strickland made a layup, then David Rivers sank two free throws to put the Clippers up, 104-102. From there, no lead was bigger than one the rest of the way.

Strickland made a free throw with 1:03 remaining, and Robinson converted two more with 33 seconds to play to give San Antonio the lead, 105-104. Norman hit his two, and the Clippers were up.

That set the stage for Robinson and the final trip to the line in a longer-than-usual 2-hour, 26-minute game that included 73 free throws, 43 by the Clippers. Turned out, though, the game still ended too soon for them.

Two Clippers played 40-plus minutes, Norman and Benoit Benjamin, the latter a big surprise. After missing four consecutive games with the flu, Benjamin was expected to go 10 to 15 minutes in a reserve role, but he started and went 40.

“I was all right,” he said. “A little bit rusty, but my wind was OK.”

Benjamin was right on both counts. He made just four of 12 attempts, but did manage three blocks and six rebounds--including three offensive--against a very tough opponent, Robinson.

Clipper Notes

Winston Garland played 22 minutes and both backcourt positions in his Clipper debut. He was most impressive at shooting guard while paired with David Rivers, hitting three of four attempts to open the game and finishing five of 10 for 15 points, but three assists and six turnovers . . . The Spurs have won 11 of the last 12 meetings at the Sports Arena . . . Despite problems at guard, the Clippers continue to handle the ball well, or at least better than their league average. Averaging an NBA-high 19 turnovers a game coming in, they had 14 Sunday, after 14 at Denver and 11 against Utah.