CLIPPERS COME BACK TO LOSE; VISITORS CAN'T QUITE OVERCOME 22-POINT DEFICIT : SAN ANTONIO 102, CLIPPERS 87.

Byline: Associated Press 

The Clippers don't quit, that's for sure. But they aren't nearly good enough to spot the San Antonio Spurs a 22-point lead and win.

The Clippers drew to within five in the fourth quarter but fell apart and lost 102-87 to the Spurs at the Alamodome.

Avery Johnson had a career-high 20 assists for San Antonio, 12 in the first quarter when the Spurs took a 34-22 lead. The Clippers were behind 50-28 before they woke up from their trance.

They chipped at the lead and trailed just 75-70 at the end of the third quarter. But the Spurs went on a 6-0 run and the Clippers were done.

David Robinson scored 30 points while Johnson had more assists than all 12 Clippers combined (18).

``Avery was great at finding the open people tonight,'' San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich said. ``Winning is always good, there are no bad wins. It was a great team effort tonight on both ends of the floor. You can't run if you don't play defense.''

The Spurs led from start to finish to break a three-game losing streak. Vinny Del Negro added 22 points and Tim Duncan 14. Robinson tied a franchise record by connecting on 18 free throws in 20 attempts.

``Avery Johnson was fantastic,'' said Robinson, who added nine rebounds. ``He wanted to get assists when he had the ball in his hands. Tonight is an example of what happens when A.J. has the ball. It was quite a show.''

The Clippers, which was led by Rodney Rogers with 12 points, suffered through a cold-shooting night, connecting on only 39.5 percent of its field goal attempts.

San Antonio connected on 15-of-19 first quarter field goal attempts and never trailed in the game. Johnson jump-started San Antonio with 12 first quarter assists as the Spurs led 34-22 after one quarter.

Johnson's 12 assists tied for the second-most ever distributed in one quarter in NBA history, and only two shy of the record of 14 assists by John Lucas in 1984 when he played for San Antonio.

``We needed something good to happen to us tonight and it did,'' Johnson said. ``Coach wanted the ball in my hands more tonight and it felt good to get some open looks at the basket.''

Behind 14 points by Robinson, the Spurs stretched the lead to 50-28 in the second quarter, before Los Angeles rallied to within 57-45 at halftime.

San Antonio allowed the Clippers to climb back into the game in the third quarter by hitting only 3-of-16 shots as Los Angeles outscored the Spurs 25-18 to close within 75-70 at the the end of three quarters.

San Antonio opened the fourth quarter with a 6-0 run, capped by Sean Elliott's jump shot which gave the Spurs an 81-70 lead with 10:22 to play.

Los Angeles could draw no closer than nine points the rest of the way as Johnson had seven fourth-quarter points for San Antonio.

``The first quarter spot we gave them was too big,'' Clippers coach Bill Fitch said. ``We made a good run in the third, but in the fourth we sent them to the line too many times.''

San Antonio, which connected on 47.9 percent of its shots, also went to the free throw line 39 times, connecting on 31. Los Angeles was only 13 of 20.

``Committing to defense and losing games the way we have causes your confidence and trust to lower,'' Popovich said. ``These guys had two choices, either work through it or explode. They did a good job as a group to work through it.''

In addition to his 14 points and 12 rebounds, Duncan blocked a career-high six shots.