Clippers Can’t Get Over the Hill

The crowd of teenage girls hung on a railing watching intently as Detroit Piston all-star forward Grant Hill warmed up before Saturday night’s game against the Clippers at the Sports Arena.

When Hill, who has helped revive the Pistons into a playoff contender, glanced in their direction, the girls screamed as if they had seen a rock star.

Hill then went out and tied his career high by scoring 35 points, 23 in the second half, as the Pistons beat the Clippers, 107-103, before an announced crowd of 14,948 at the Sports Arena.

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch thinks the Pistons, who have already surpassed last season’s total of 28 wins and haven’t made the playoffs since 1992, are one of the NBA’s most improved teams.

“If I were going into the playoffs in the East and drew Detroit, I wouldn’t be happy,” Fitch said. “They’re getting to a point where they’ve got enough bullets that there’s a lot of teams they could beat three games out of five.”

Fitch, who coached the Twin Towers of Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson when he guided the Houston Rockets to the 1986 NBA finals, played centers Brian Williams and Stanley Roberts together in the final quarter.

Williams, who had 33 points, and Roberts worked well together as the Clippers, who trailed by as many as 10 points in the third quarter, cut it to 81-80.

But Roberts was ejected after drawing his second technical foul with 7:23 remaining. Roberts got up close and personal with referee Gary Benson and had to be restrained by teammate Bo Outlaw.

“Stanley was upset because they told him he couldn’t get in the Clipper club for snacks after the game,” Williams quipped. “He went [crazy] after that.”

Said Roberts: “The way I look at it, if [the officials] are going to get paid for doing a job, they should do their job. I don’t care if the NBA fines me or whatever, but they’ve got to straighten up their officials.”

The Clippers, who trailed, 96-89, outscored the Pistons, 12-6, to cut the deficit to 102-101 when Terry Dehere made a three-point shot with 38 seconds left.

Then Hill, who had 14 fourth-quarter points, made four free throws in the final 28 seconds as the Pistons held off the Clippers.

Rookie guard Brent Barry, who blew a defensive assignment when Terry Mills made a jumper to give the Pistons a 102-98 lead with 50 seconds left, fouled Hill with 28.2 seconds left and Hill sank both free throws for a 104-101 lead. Hill made two more free throws with 10.6 seconds left after Clipper guard Pooh Richardson missed a jumper with 15 seconds left.

“We shot ourselves in the foot,” Fitch said. “That foul of Brent’s that put Hill up there was a free one and then he left Mills [open]. It’s really funny, that’s why they call them rookies. His defense tonight up until then was excellent, but he just happened to be involved in those two plays.”

Loy Vaught, who missed last Sunday’s 106-101 loss to Seattle because of food poisoning, was sidelined for the second time in the last four games because of a kidney ailment.

Vaught was driving home after the shootaround when he experienced lower abdominal pains.

“They checked him for a kidney stone, but they don’t think there’s any big problem,” Fitch said.

Vaught will be examined by a urologist Monday and won’t accompany the Clippers, who leave today on a nine-day, five-game Eastern trip that opens Tuesday night in New York. However, he may join the team later.