Jackson Helps Clippers End Four-Game Skid

It is for last summer, for the conditioning and the weight lifting and the pickup games in sweltering humidity of New York afternoons.

The hard work carried over into training camp, which became the start of the 1992-93 season, which became Mark Jackson’s half. His better half, not counting his wife.

Jackson had 10 points and 12 assists as the Clippers beat the Minnesota Timberwolves, 117-93, before 11,740 at the Sports Arena on Friday night. Par for the course, for the individual if not the team, which ended a four-game losing streak and won for only the second time in eight tries.

In the 10 games since the all-star break, Jackson is averaging 13.5 points and 10.8 assists. And, despite what for many would be a taxing pace of 39.4 minutes per game, he is averaging only 2.3 turnovers.

“I take a lot of pride in the second half of my season,� he said after the Clippers won their ninth in a row against the Timberwolves. “I think that’s when the true work pays off from the off-season and the start of the regular season. That’s when I try to step it up a notch. I think that’s when fatigue sets in for a lot of players, but that’s when I want to be my best.�

Jackson has stepped it up to a tie for fifth place in the league in assists. He and Detroit’s Isiah Thomas are at 8.9 per game.

“I only pay attention to the way I run this club,� Jackson said. “I don’t really pay attention to what other guards are doing. But it means a lot. It means a lot to be up there.�

The Clippers’ Stanley Roberts returned despite a strained lower back, his first appearances after sitting out two games.

“Tight,� he said of the back before the game. “Sore. Of course, they gave me a girdle. I feel like a woman. It can’t help but make me a little skinnier, though.�

His impact was sizable. Despite three fouls in 14 minutes of the first half, Roberts had six blocked shots as the Clippers took a 48-36 halftime lead. The six blocks tied his season high, set in 34 minutes against Sacramento on Feb. 23.

Three of those blocks came in the opening 5 1/2 minutes as the Clippers took a 12-0 lead against the league’s lowest-scoring team. The Timberwolves, coming off a loss the night before at Sacramento, were shut out for the first 6:06, missing 10 shots and committing three turnovers before Marlon Maxey’s dunk.

Minnesota--six of 21 with seven turnovers during the first quarter--kept pace the rest of the first half. The Timberwolves shot 55.6% during the second quarter, got within eight points, fell back by 15, then closed to 12 at the break.

Minor injuries slowed the Clippers in the third quarter more than the Timberwolves could hope to. Roberts, apparently the victim of a Minnesota player coming down after a rebound attempt and inadvertently elbowing him on the head, left the sidelines temporarily to receive five stitches above the left temple.

Meanwhile, the Clipper lead grew to 21 points, then 23, and finally 25, on Manning’s hook with 1:49 remaining. They went into the final quarter ahead, 85-62.

Roberts did not return after the head injury, missing a chance to tie or surpass his career high of seven blocks. He could have played again if needed.

Clipper Notes

The return of Stanley Roberts meant a return to the bench for Loy Vaught, whose numbers as a starter are dramatically different from when he comes off the bench. Vaught is shooting 56.9% in three starts and 50% in 54 appearances as a reserve. “Definitely,� Vaught said when asked if he notices a difference. “As a starter, you can let the game come to you. You can relax. You don’t worry about having to make the first shot. There’s a lot of pressure because starters are expected to produce, but not the immediate kind of pressure.�

* 52 POINTS FOR JORDAN

Michael Jordan breaks the 50-point mark for the 32nd time in leading the Chicago Bulls to a 123-108 victory over the Charlotte Hornets. C11