CLIPPERS HOLD ON TO BEAT BLAZERS ROOKS' FREE THROWS PRESERVE VICTORY.

Byline: Sean Kearns Staff Writer

It was a rerun for the Clippers.

They have a late fourth-quarter lead. The opponents, in this case the Portland Trail Blazers, have the Clippers right where they want them.

But someone created a new show on Saturday night.

The Clippers made enough plays down the stretch to pull out a tense 90-89 victory over the short-handed Portland Trail Blazers before 19,077 at Staples Center.

The win didn't come easily. Portland's Damon Stoudamire missed a jump shot as the buzzer sounded and the Clippers exchanged grins and hugs on the court like they had just beaten a curse.

But it looked like it might not happen. Steve Smith gave Portland an 89-88 lead on a turnaround jump shot over Eric Piatkowski with 28.9 seconds left. The Clippers led 85-78 with 4:44 left but Portland went on an 11-3 run to take the lead.

But Sean Rooks hit two free throws with 20.9 seconds left to put the Clippers ahead for good. Piatkowski led the Clippers with 26 points. Bonzi Wells had 22 for Portland.

The win was the Clippers' second in a row after losing nine consecutive. And it moves the Clippers to 15-33, giving the team the same number of wins it had all of last season.

The Clippers snapped a nine-game losing streak on Thursday night in a win over Houston.

With Portland owner Paul Allen watching the game from a courtside seat close to where Clippers owner Donald Sterling normally sits, the Blazers led for most of the first three quarters.

In the final minutes of the third quarter the Clippers started to surge.

When Piatkowski a 3-pointer to open the fourth quarter, it gave the Clippers their first lead since the opening minutes of the game. The points were part of a 16-2 run for the Clippers to end the third period and start the fourth.

The run turned an eight-point Portland lead into an 80-74 Clippers advantage.

The Blazers played the game without two of their top players, All-Star Rasheed Wallace and Scottie Pippen.

Wallace didn't make the trip after being suspended by the NBA for two games on Friday for an incident with an official. After being ejected against Phoenix last Thursday, Wallace threw a towel that hit referee Gary Benson and then had to be restrained by his coaches and teammates when he tried to go after the official.

Pippen had surgery on his right elbow last week after missing eight previous games with tendonitis of the elbow. He went on the injured list Jan. 25.

The Trail Blazers started Arvydas Sabonis for Wallace and Stacey Augmon for Pippen.

``The guys they put in are great players but they can't spread the floor like (Wallace) can,'' Clippers coach Alvin Gentry said. ``On the high screen and roll, you have to guard him to the 3-point line, where the other guys can shoot the medium-range shot. They can't shoot with the range that he can.

CAPTION(S):

box

Box: GAME RECAP