Clippers Want Whistles While Working on Jazz

The Clippers spent Wednesday practicing, not packing.

The night before, they played their best game in about 2 1/2 weeks, not their last game.

Elimination from the NBA playoffs still looms tonight, when they play the Utah Jazz in Game 4 of the best-of-five first-round series at 7:30 at the Sports Arena. But the Clippers--behind, 2-1, after Tuesday’s 10-point victory--say they are gaining more than reprieves with each passing day.

They are gaining on the Jazz.

Not-so-ancient history is the evidence they put forth.

Game 1--Utah dominates in a 115-97 victory at the Delta Center. The Jazz shoots 56.4%.

Game 2--The Clippers follow through on their plan to get more physical. Utah still wins, 103-92, at the Delta Center, but leads by only four points with four minutes to play before pulling away. The Jazz’s shooting drops to 47.9%.

Game 3--The series switches to the Sports Arena. The Clippers are ahead by 19 points midway through the fourth quarter and win, 98-88. The Jazz shoots 45.3%.

It helps when the opponent is the lone obstacle. The Clippers’ playoff jitters that came with four-fifths of last Friday’s starting lineup making their first postseason appearance have apparently become a memory.

But the biggest strides have come with the tightening of the defense, the most important part of the team’s success. Not only does it hinder the Jazz, one of the league’s highest-scoring teams, but the running game off turnovers and fast breaks is the core of the Clipper offense.

So, as Utah’s shooting percentage declines, Clipper chances climb.

“It’s just like our winning streaks during the regular season,” Doc Rivers said. “It was about winning with good defense. Every time we think we’re a great offensive team, we’re going to lose.”

Said Coach Larry Brown: “We didn’t get a lot of easy shots the first two games in transition. It was hard because they (the Jazz) were shooting so many free throws and getting so many baskets inside. They virtually made us shoot from half-court situations, and everybody knows we’re not a good perimeter-shooting team.”

The Clippers hope to shoot more free throws, even though they were last in the league during the regular season at 72%.

Utah had 12 more attempts in Game 1 and 19 more in Game 2, when Karl Malone made 18 of 22 from the line and the Clippers were 11 for 25. Tuesday night, the Clippers didn’t get a free throw until five seconds remained in the first half, though Game 3 ended with both teams trying 23.

“It’s been a problem, but that’s playoff basketball,” Brown said. “You’ve got to get to the free-throw line. (Tuesday) night, we did. I really, truly believe--and I’m not crying about this--that they have players with reputations in this league. And Karl Malone and John Stockton deserve to be recognized as superstars. But when Danny (Manning) slaps down, it’s a foul. When Karl Malone slaps down, it’s not a foul.”

Fouls could become commonplace tonight. Physical play has worked well for the Clippers, and Game 3 had the first potentially explosive encounter when James Edwards and Mike Brown got technical fouls for a brief wrestling match.

“It’s going to be more physical,” Jazz guard Jeff Malone said. “The refs are letting us play. I hope no one gets hurt, but if they (the Clippers) want to play like that, that’s the way we’re going to play, too.”

Clipper Notes

Doc Rivers had four more stitches over his right eye Tuesday, the fourth time he has been sewn up this season. The latest was the result of an inadvertent reach by Utah’s John Stockton. . . . Ron Harper did not practice Wednesday because of a bruised right knee, but he is expected to play tonight.

The Clippers were unanimous in their praise of Tuesday’s boisterous crowd, even through it was more than 1,000 short of a sellout for the team’s first home playoff game in California. “Our fans were great,” Coach Larry Brown said. “I wish there were more.” About 4,000 tickets remained unsold as of late Wednesday afternoon.