Clippers Answer Some Questions by Holding On to Beat Suns, 108-102 : Pro basketball: Team blocks 16 shots and ends four-game losing streak.

Wednesday brought an unscheduled promotional gimmick to the Sports Arena: Gut-check Night, when the first 12 guys on the court in a Clipper uniform got the chance to prove what kind of team they comprise.

After six games, there were plenty of doubts, four consecutive blowout losses having pushed everyone from star forwards to team executives to question the club’s effort.

The Clippers had the answers. In playing their best game of the season, they withstood a late rally to defeat the Phoenix Suns, 108-102, before 11,812, tying an 11-year franchise record in the process with 16 blocked shots.

The Clippers (3-4) led by as much as 77-62, with 5:17 remaining in the third quarter, before stumbling enough to make it interesting. Phoenix, coming off a one-point victory over the Lakers on Tuesday night, was as close as 104-100, on Mark West’s rebound slam dunk with 2:57 left.

Phoenix (4-2) managed only two points the rest of the way--Jeff Hornacek’s free throws with 22.4 seconds remaining--and the Clippers got two baskets from Bo Kimble.

“We’ve been in a slump,” said Benoit Benjamin, who had 19 points, 16 rebounds and six blocked shots. “It’s always different things. We just ran into a wall. But we’re kicking that wall down. This was a start.”

Added Tom Garrick, who contributed 12 points in a substitute’s role: “It means a lot because it’s a home victory. We talked at the beginning of the season about protecting our home advantage, and tonight we followed through. We are better than we’ve shown and wanted to prove that to everyone.”

Coach Mike Schuler was screaming for intensity from the start--woe be the few who didn’t get to the huddle quickly enough for a second-quarter timeout--and the response was obvious.

Schuler obviously wasn’t planning to wait long for a reaction, either. The lineup a little more than six minutes into the game featured one starter, Ken Norman; a little-used backcourt combination, Winston Garland and Garrick; and Cedric Ball, fresh from the Continental Basketball Assn. to replace injured Danny Manning and a rookie, Loy Vaught. Not long after that, the Clippers used a 9-2 run to go ahead, 25-19.

The lead was 31-26 heading into the second quarter, and that cushion grew to 44-35 with 6:28 to play in the half. But the Suns countered with a charge of their own, an 11-2 rally that tied the game, 46-46, when Kevin Johnson made two free throws with 4:27 remaining.

Phoenix, however, never led after 51-50. Part of that was because of Norman, who had five of his career-high seven blocked shots in the second half.

Clipper Notes

Benoit Benjamin, expected to begin negotiations on a new contract within a few weeks, said before the game he has broken off talks with the Clippers until the end of the season, when he becomes an unrestricted free agent. Clipper officials say the only talks to take place so far are informal and point out that, according to league policy, negotiations can not actually begin until a year after the previous deal is signed, so there is nothing to break off. Benjamin, in his option year, signed the current deal on Nov. 16, 1989. “We’ve tried,” Benjamin said. “Nothing they are offering is appealing to my taste. I’ll just forget about it, wait to the end of the year and see what happens.”

Add contracts: Continuing a recent trend of making long-term investments in star players, the Clippers held informal talks Wednesday night with the agent for Charles Smith to lay the groundwork on a possible new contract. The third-year forward has a deal that runs through the end of next season, but team officials took the opportunity of Washington, D.C.-based David Falk being in town to initiate discussion on an extension or re-working of the current pact. The Clippers view this as a time to gauge interest, cautioning that actual negotiations may not be imminent. Ken Norman and Gary Grant both had their contracts redone before the 1989-90 season without the threat of free agency.

One of the most obvious undercurrents to come out of Sunday’s postgame steam-letting, when Smith and Norman charged that some teammates were giving less than 100% during a fourth consecutive trouncing, was that the Clippers are in need of leadership. One of the captains elected by the players is Ron Harper, who is at games on a spot basis only while doing most of his rehabilitation from knee surgery at home in Ohio. The other is Smith, a third-year player who has a history of nagging injuries himself, most recently a badly sprained foot and ankle that forced him to miss two games.