Spurs Send Clippers Into Full Retreat

SAN ANTONIO — The Clippers felt the way Randy Woods, their rookie guard, looked. Woozy. Disjointed. Ready to take a standing-eight count.

Woods got his pounding when he ran into a pick by J.R. Reid with a few minutes to play in Tuesday night’s game. The Clippers got theirs earlier, when the San Antonio Spurs built a 13-point lead before halftime, pushed it to 17 in the third quarter and rolled to an easy 112-97 victory before 16,057 at HemisFair Arena.

This was like January all over again for the Clippers. Lately, when they could stay with--if not outplay--the best in the game, there had not been a pothole like this.

David Robinson had 25 points, 13 rebounds and seven blocked shots and Dale Ellis added 20 points and made three three-pointers to lead the Spurs to their 12th consecutive home victory. San Antonio improved to 30-14 overall and 20-3 under Coach John Lucas.

“You know the saying, ‘When you take two steps forward, you can always take one step back?’ ” Clipper center Stanley Roberts said. “Tonight, we slipped back one.”

Added Mark Jackson: “To beat them (the Spurs) here, we just had to play the way we are capable of playing. And we didn’t.”

The Clippers trailed, 55-49, with 3:01 to play in the first half, thanks in large part to Danny Manning--hours after being named an All-Star for the first time--opening seven for eight from the field. The miss was a three-pointer that rattled in and out of the basket.

But Manning got his third foul on the next possession and had to come out. The Spurs, who were scoring in 12 of 14 trips down the floor, finished with a 9-2 rally to take a 13-point lead at halftime.

San Antonio never led by fewer than 10 points again, and Manning never regained his rhythm. His great start dissolved into a two-of-10 finish--still good for 25 points and nine rebounds, both team highs, but not what could have been.

“Very disruptive,” Manning said. “I’ve just got to quit fouling.”

The Spurs tried to make sure that wouldn’t happen.

“We went at him and tried to get him in foul trouble,” San Antonio’s Antoine Carr said. “It made him slow down, and he wasn’t able to get his shot off as easily. It slowed him down on defense, too.”

The manpower problems went beyond Manning. The Clippers were already without Ken Norman, home with chickenpox, and Roberts and Kiki Vandeweghe also had three fouls in the firsthalf.

That wasn’t much of an excuse for the loss, though. The Spurs played without Vinny Del Negro, the back-up at both guards, who sat out with a sprained left ankle. Then, Avery Johnson, the starter at point guard, got his third foul with 3:02 to play in the first quarter, though he returned and finished with 11 assists.

Clipper Notes

Ken Norman, expected to miss at least five more games because of chickenpox, was put on the injured list Tuesday to allow the Clippers to sign someone to a 10-day contract. That could be Dyron Nix, formerly with the Indiana Pacers and now with Omaha of the Continental Basketball Assn., though the chances of that were decreasing by late Tuesday. Stanley Roberts and Randy Woods have not had chickenpox, Mark Jackson and Elmore Spencer are not sure and the incubation time can be as long as seven days. So the Clippers wait--and watch for blemishes and itches. “The funny part is that nobody knew Kenny had it until (Monday),” trainer Keith Jones said. “If he’d had it for the last week or five days or whatever, these guys have been hugging each other, wrestling with each other. It’s just a matter of waiting and seeing.” The first sign of another outbreak and that player will be separated from the team.

Roberts avoided infection last season when Orlando Magic teammate Jeff Turner had chickenpox and plans to do the same this time. “I’m not worried,” he said, smiling. “I’m immune--I think. I hope.”

Gary Grant returned after sitting out Saturday’s game because of a strained right shoulder. . . . John Williams, himself bothered by a sprained left wrist, started for Norman and finished with 14 points. . . . How desperate had the Spurs been for an outside shooter? It took Dale Ellis 44 games to break the team’s NBA-era record for three-pointers in a season. His 68th passed Mike Dunleavy, who had 67 in 1982-83.