This Time, Clippers Hold On : Pro basketball: They take a 21-point lead for the second consecutive game and beat Rockets, 118-95. Rookie Martin scores 20.

The opponent got tougher. So did the Clippers.

They had a 21-point lead Friday, as they did two nights earlier against the Miami Heat. That time, they blew it. This time, the Clippers completed the blowout.

A 118-95 victory over the Houston Rockets before 12,196 at the Sports Arena, ended a two-game losing streak and improved their record to 26-38. It also helped soothe the wounds from the Miami debacle.

Houston, continuing to have troubles at the Sports Arena, dropped to 31-33 and 1 1/2 games behind the idle Seattle SuperSonics for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference.

“I think we played looser tonight on the whole,” said Clipper rookie Jeff Martin, who had a season-high 20 points. “We’ve been up and down for a while. But tonight, we put it all together and played both halves. Too much of the time we play only one half.”

Against a team they have beaten six of the last seven times at the Sports Arena, the Clippers dominated the first 12 minutes, taking a 42-24 lead. They shot 70.4% (19 of 27), opening the game by making 16 of 19 attempts. Five of their 11 rebounds came on the offensive end.

And while Buck Johnson had eight first-quarter points, the Clippers’ constant double-teaming of Akeem Olajuwon resulted in the All-Star center missing all three of his shots and getting only one rebound in the period. Olajuwon finished with a team-high 19 points and 12 rebounds. Johnson ended up with 14 points, and the Rockets were held to 41.1% shooting in the game.

Meanwhile, Charles Smith, who sat out the Miami game with a hyper-extended left knee, had eight points in the quarter and finished with a game-high 26 points in 28 minutes. He also had seven rebounds and two blocked shots. Smith did not start, however, a move by Coach Don Casey to conserve the minutes of his leading scorer. By the time Smith first entered, 6:04 into the game, the Clippers were already ahead, 24-10, the carry-over from a 16-4 start.

The lead soon went to 29-11, then 37-17, and, finally, 42-21, when Ken Bannister picked up a loose ball under the basket for a layup with 54 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Twenty-one points--the same cushion the Clippers had against Miami.

They couldn’t hold on 21, but Houston got only as close as 44-36 in the second quarter with 8:32 left. The Clippers built that back up to 59-41, with 1:33 remaining, before taking a 62-47 lead at halftime.

Smith, appearing a bit winded but showing no mobility problems because of the injured knee, had 16 points by then, on seven-of-10 shooting. Four teammates had at least eight.

“In a way, the three days off did me some good,” Smith said. “I got a chance to rest up . . . I felt real good. It felt like the beginning of the season.”

Clipper Notes

Miami Heat players expected the Clippers to fold after building a 21-point second-quarter lead at the Sports Arena Wednesday--which is exactly what happened. “I knew the Clippers were the kind of team that would let us back in the ballgame,” rookie guard Sherman Douglas told the Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) News & Sun-Sentinel. Other Heat players agreed. The Clippers, the only team other than the expansion Orlando Magic and second-year Charlotte Hornets with a losing record against Miami, had 18 fast-break baskets in the first half and two in the second. They also were dominated, 11-0, on the offensive boards in the second half.

Any notion that players started to sour on Coach Don Casey only after injuries to Ron Harper and Gary Grant turned the Clippers into a struggling team is untrue. Players and management indicate a meeting with owner Donald T. Sterling was requested as far back as January, when the Clippers were in the midst of their most successful run in years. In fact, one apparently was even scheduled in mid-January but postponed when attention turned to regrouping after Harper’s injury. . . . Sunday’s game against Charlotte at the Sports Arena will start at 6 p.m.