A Late 13-0 Run Does In the Pacers : Clippers Win 2nd Straight and Hand Indiana Loss No. 8

They’re both rookie guards, they both come off the bench, and they’re both having up-and-down seasons.

Friday night, they both played major roles in a fourth-quarter surge that gave the Clippers a 113-110 win over the Indiana Pacers before a crowd of 10,638 at the Sports Arena.

“We were like killer bees,” Tom Garrick said. “We just kept attacking.”

Better yet, Killer G’s--Garrick and Gary Grant.

Grant is a first-round pick from Michigan who has been held back by inconsistent play at point guard; Garrick is the second-round choice from Rhode Island who came back from little playing time and being on waivers to become a key in Friday night’s victory, the Clippers’ second straight.

The Clippers hadn’t won two in a row since Games Nos. 13 and 14 last season.

About playing with Garrick, Grant said: “I like to play with all the guards, but Tom sparks the plug and makes me run around and makes everyone run around. He gets us all going.

“It’s his motivation on defense that gets me going. . . . You could see the tempo go up when we were in there.”

Indiana led, 86-81, with 10:21 left in the game before the Killer G’s pushed the pace. Grant had a steal, Garrick had 1 of his game-high 4 steals and Danny Manning got another. On offense, Grant scored on a fast-break layup, Grant scored on a slam dunk and Garrick got a layup, in succession.

The Pacers, playing their first game with Mel Daniels and Dave Twardzik as interim co-coaches after Jack Ramsay resigned Thursday, didn’t score for a span of 2:42. It was a 13-0 run for the Clippers, with Ken Norman getting 4 of his 18 points in that stretch.

Indiana was down, 94-88, with 7:39 left and never got closer than 3 points.

“I think the guys last year would have given up and conceded and not played 48 minutes,” said Clipper center Benoit Benjamin, who scored a team-high 22 points. “One thing you can say about this team, we don’t give up.”

Benjamin played a big role to put the Clippers (4-4, including 3-0 at home) in position for the comeback with a strong first half, which ended with the Clippers ahead, 57-56.

The Clippers were up, 47-46, when Benjamin, coming off his season-high 29 points in Wednesday’s win over Sacramento, went to work. First, he blocked a shot by Pacer Herb Williams, which led to Charles Smith’s layup at the other end. The next time Indiana had the ball, Benjamin stepped in front of a pass by Vern Fleming at the top of the free-throw circle and was fouled after the interception.

He converted both free throws, making the Clippers’ lead 51-46. Then, after Chuck Person scored for Indiana, Benjamin hit a 5-foot jump hook from the right side. Reggie Miller’s basket brought the Pacers within 53-50, but Benjamin responded again, hitting 2 more free throws with 1:26 to play before halftime.

That put the Clippers up, 55-50, and the Pacers (0-8) had to rally in the closing minute just to trail by a point after 2 quarters.

Benjamin, who came into the game third in the league in field-goal percentage, his 62.8% trailing only Dennis Rodman of Detroit (77.1%) and Tim Kempton of Charlotte (72.2%), made 4 of 6 shots in the first half and 9 of 15 overall.

Said Benjamin: “I’m a pretty good defensive player. I just try to do the things the team needs.”

That he did.

Clipper Notes

Guard Quintin Dailey did not dress for the game because he has not recovered from the flu. . . . The Clippers play tonight at Denver, where they haven’t won since the 1984-85 season. Channel 5 will televise the game. The Nuggets were 5-0 against the Clippers last season. . . . Herb Williams and Reggie Miller each scored 24 points for Indiana, while Chuck Person and Vern Fleming had 23 apiece. Wayman Tisdale, the Pacers’ leading scorer with an average of 20.4 points a game, did not dress because of a back injury.