European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - April 18, 1992, Darmstadt, Hesse Saturday april 18, 1992 the stars and stripes c Page 25 clippers reach playoffs for first time since 76 by the associated press los Angeles a Larry Brown the first Man to coach two Aba teams in one season is now the first to coach the los Angeles clippers into the Aba playoffs. The clippers whose franchise last appeared in the postseason in 1976 when it was located in Buffalo and called the braves clinched the playoff berth with a 96-93 Victory Over the a bad a worst team handing Minnesota its sixth straight loss. If the Timber wolves had been Able to win the clippers playoff spot was still secure because the los Angeles lakers lost 102-94 at Sacramento. The defeat left the lakers on the verge of missing the playoffs for the first time since 1976, the year the clippers made them. Ron Harper had 29 Points for the clippers. In other games thursday heat 95, Bucks 87 Miami a Miami got 23 Points from Glen Rice in route to a Victory Over Milwaukee that kept its playoff Hopes alive. Pacers 119, nets 113 East Rutherford . Reggie Miller scored 11 Points in the fourth Quarter when Indiana rallied from a 12-Point deficit to deny new Jersey its first playoff berth since 1986. The Victory pulled the pacers one Victory away from clinching sixth place in the Eastern conference. The nets 3942 can make the playoffs by defeating Orlando on saturday or with a loss by Miami or Atlanta. Bullets 119, magic 106 Landover my. A Michael Adams scored 34 Points and Washington snapped a six game losing Streak by beating Orlando. Kings 102, lakers 94 Sacramento Calif. Wayman Tisdale scored 22 Points and Sacramento dealt the los Angeles lakers playoff Hopes another blow. Dennis Hopson came off the Bench to score 11 of his 19 Points in the fourth Donald Royal and Phoenix suns Steve Burtt Battle for Possession of Ball on thursday. Quarter for the Kings who outscored los Angeles 9-4 in the final 2 11 to end a 17-game losing Streak against the lakers dating to Jan. 10,1989. The lakers who got 27 Points from Terry Teagle fell one game behind Houston for the eighth and final playoff berth in the Western conference. Because the rockets have a better record against conference playoff teams a the fourth tiebreaker a the lakers would have to win their last two games while Houston loses its last two in order to avoid missing the playoffs for the first time since 1976. Suns 121, spurs 101 Phoenix a Cedric Ceballos scored 13 of his 27 Points in the third Quarter As Phoenix broke away from san Antonio. All stars win last tuneup chateau Roux France a a Justin Cole made six straight free throws in the final 80 seconds Friday to Lead the Dodds All stars to a 89-86 comeback Victory Over Limoges in their final tune up for the 11th annual International tournament of cadets in Cholet France. Justin Cole was 9 for 9 from the line and led six Dodds scorers in double figures with 18 Points. Lamar Cox of Heidelberg added 16, George Ackerman of Heidelberg had 12, Atilla Barlis of Munich had 11, while Toby Jordan of Giessen and David Cole of Wiesbaden scored 10 Points each. Burnell King had 12 rebounds for Dodds. Dodds rallied from a 14-Point second half deficit with a Hal court press. The americans finally tied the game at 81-81 on a Basket by Cox with 2 minutes remaining. Webster Langhorne of Frankfurt stole the inbound pass and drove in for the Lay up that gave Dodds is first Lead of the second half. Justin Cole added two free throws with 1 20 left giving the americans a 85-81 Lead. Herme links 3-Pointer with 56 seconds left Cut the Dodds Lead to 85-84. But Justin Cole buried two free throws after a steal with 14 seconds left a then Sank another pair with 7 seconds showing following a Limoges turnover to create the final score. Dodds plays Bordeaux at 4 45 . And Athens at 8 . Saturday in their first games of the Cholet tournament. Defending Champ Riverside n.y., and Athens Are the heavy favourites. Athens i it bringing in seven players who Are 6-6 or taller said Dodds coach Tom Leblanc. Kicks collapse May Cost division title _ _. A a a 1. Pm ten to few to Token a hrs by Clifton Brown the new York times new York a no matter How you look at the a Nicks recent collapse it looks ugly. Rarely does a professional basketball team lose a five game Lead with eight games to play. Rarely does a team score just 61 Points in one game then fail to score for the final 3 minutes 41 seconds of another game just three Days later. A but the kicks have done All that during the last two weeks putting themselves on the verge of losing a division title that was theirs for the taking. Wednesdays 95-94 loss in Atlanta was the most devastating defeat of the season for the kicks 50-31leaving them tied with Boston 50-31 for the Atlantic division Lead with one game left in the regular season. If the kicks lose their season Fiode on saturday in Milwaukee or if the celtics beat Miami on sunday in Boston the celtics will win the division. If both the kicks and the celtics win the celtics win the tie breaker by virtue of winning the season series with new York 3-2. The kicks can Only escape the embarrassment of losing the division if they win on saturday and if Boston loses at Home on sunday. What Are the chances of that happening Miami has never won in Boston having lost All six of its games there including a 124-97 loss in Boston earlier this season. Meanwhile the kicks have lost four consecutive games in Milwaukee. Are the kicks too shaken by what has happened to recover in time for the play offs of asked if the kicks could get Over cd a a wednesday nights loss Patrick Ewing said a a we be got to. We still have a whole second season left to play. After the loss in a somber kicks locked room a Security guard came in periodically to give the players an update on the celtics pistons game which was still in Progress. Just As the kicks filed out of the Arena to Board their bus they got the news of the celtics Victory insuring that the Long flight Home would seem even longer. The Post season prospects for the kicks who appear headed for a first round playoff matchup with Detroit do not appear Good. The kicks can talk All they want to about pressure having nothing to do with their performance lately. But those words ring hollow. Look at the facts. Boston without Larry Bird since april 4, has won 14 of its last 15 games. The kicks meanwhile have lost five of their last seven games. Had the kicks not escaped with tuesdays shaky 93-90 Home Victory Over Washington the celtics would have clinched the division already. Wednesday night the kicks had the Hawks All but beaten. And the Hawks Best player Dominique Wilkins was in Street clothes recovering from a ruptured Achilles Tendon. Yet when the Hawks reached Down deep they came up with big baskets. And when the kicks reached Down there were no Points to be found. New York missed its final seven shots and its offence has collapsed enough times recently that it can no longer be called a coincidence. The kicks have a major list of offensive problems. Their weak outside shooting is making life miserable for Ewing who is being double and triple teamed More than Ever because opponents do not respect new Yorkus perimeter game. Riley has searched for answers and has come up with More questions. The coach appears to have lost Faith in Xavier Mcdaniel who rarely plays Down the stretch and who was benched for the final 17 minutes on wednesday. And strangely Riley benched Mark Jackson for the first 10 /2 minutes of the fourth Quarter on wednesday using Greg Anthony at Point guard instead. Anthony was on the floor when the kicks built their 9-Point Lead but he was also on the floor when the Hawks scored 6 consecutive Points to close to 94-91 with 1 39 left. Just before leaving the game Anthony had a pass deflected by Maurice Cheeks that Lead to a Basket by Stacey Augmon pulling Atlanta to 9493 with 1 06 left. When Jackson finally re entered the game he immediately committed a turnover that led to Paul grahams game winning Basket with 27.4 seconds remaining. If Riley had inserted Jackson sooner there is no guarantee that the a Nicks offence would not have disintegrated anyway. But it is not a Good sign that after 81 games Riley is still searching for combinations he can depend on in crucial situations. In perhaps the seasons biggest under statement a dejected Riley said after wednesdays Joss a we picked a very Inopportune time to lose momentum. Regardless of what happens this weekend the kicks will enter the playoffs in a questionable state. Riley gave the kicks a Day off on thursday and they probably needed it just to get away from basketball for a while. But the Jug picks cannot hide from the truth. When it has counted the most during the last two weeks their play has slipped. And they do not have much time to regain their footing
