Clippers Lose, Then Take Verbal Beating

One day after Charles Barkley’s late fadeaway jumper helped Houston beat the Lakers, the Rockets enjoyed an easy 121-99 victory over the Clippers before 15,562 Monday night at the Sports Arena.

In completing their two-day sweep of Los Angeles’ two NBA teams, the Rockets barely had to break a sweat as the Clippers shot 42% and had only 10 assists .

“Man, [the Clippers] just don’t play,” said Barkley after scoring 22 points in 26 minutes off the bench. “I was embarrassed with their energy and enthusiasm. . . it was just embarrassing out there tonight.

“We were talking about it during and after the game. [The Clippers] have got to grow up and mature. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, you have an obligation to the game to play hard every night. The way they play is just a disgrace.”

The only chance the Clippers had of preventing their losing streak from reaching four games was to catch the Rockets sluggish after their tough win over the Lakers.

But with Rodney Rogers sidelined because of an ankle sprain, which he suffered in Friday’s loss to Boston, and Brent Barry limited to 18 minutes before he suffered a similar injury in the second period, the Clippers didn’t have a chance.

Especially against the Rockets, playing with Hakeem Olajuwon in the starting lineup for the fifth time since he had knee surgery in November. Olajuwon toyed with the Clippers for 21 points and 20 rebounds, while teammate Clyde Drexler had 25 points and five assists.

Drexler is now one of four NBA players with 20,000 points and 6,000 assists in a career. Drexler, with 21,730 points and an even 6,000 assists, joined Hall of Famers John Havlicek, Oscar Robertson and Jerry West.

Behind a strong first half by Lamond Murray, who finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, the Clippers stayed close for a while and actually led during stretches of the second quarter. Houston, however, just wore them down in the second half.

“Their size just took over. . . even when we put our two 7-footers [Keith Closs and Stojko Vrankovic] in there,” said Clipper Coach Bill Fitch, whose team was outscored, 34-20, in the third quarter.

Before the start of the fourth quarter, garbage time took over and Barkley did his best to try and entertain.

“You aren’t going to blow people out right away, the games always start off tight . . . I thought we were playing well and once we got it going, they kind of just packed it in,” Barkley said.

“I was just trying to liven the game up for the fans. I feel bad for the fans when it’s like this. They pay good, hard-earned money.”

Fitch said that with the NBA trading deadline coming up later this month, he gave playing time to several players who normally do not get into games. Not only did Closs and Vrankovic play much of the fourth quarter but so did rookie guard James Collins, who had played in only 11 games, and Pooh Richardson, a former starter.

While the Clippers are slowly falling apart, the Rockets are slowly coming together. Their victory moved them above .500 for the first time in almost a month at 26-25.

“If we play like this, we’re going to be pretty impressive,” Barkley said.