Clippers’ Victory Over Cavaliers Rates an 18 on the Franklin Scale

Franklin Edwards had a coming-out party of sorts, scoring the last of his six baskets to effectively end a close game and give the Clippers a 106-101 victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers Tuesday night. If the Clippers, who had lost four games in a row, weren’t yet out fifth place, Edwards was at least out of the doghouse.

Edwards, who hasn’t played so much as a minute in 9 of the last 17 games, emerged as the Clippers’ premier point guard with his 18-point game in the Sports Arena. He was good enough that Clipper Coach Don Chaney said starting guard Norm Nixon, out with a pulled hamstring, would have to win his job back.

Edwards has now had two good games in a row, roughly one more than the Clippers have had. This does not a season make. But his final minute of play certainly a game did make.

With the lead changing hands on seven straight possessions in the final three minutes, Edwards finally called a halt to the seesawing when, unattended, took a pass from Cedric Maxwell and scored to make it 104-101 with 15 seconds left.

As wonderful as the play was, Edwards remained remorseful. “I should have dunked,” the 6-1 guard lamented. “But no legs.”

It would have been a nice touch, but Edwards already had secured the evening’s laurels with his play. Chaney seemed awe-struck. “He was super fast, a menace on defense and he ignited the fast break all night,” the coach said. “The way he was running, the others knew that if they ran, they’d get a layup.”

Critical to the Clippers’ emergence in this battle of mini-titans was Edwards’ outside shooting--especially since his alternate at the position, Darnell Valentine, offered none. Valentine made zero field goals in six chances. “With Darnell,” Chaney explained, “they were giving him the outside shot. But with Frankie in there, well, he can knock that shot down.”

Others knocked shots down, too. Second-most memorable was Kurt Nimphius’ 20-foot jump shot to give the Clippers their final lead, 102-101, with 45 seconds left. The shot may actually have been launched minutes earlier, but its trajectory and its incredible bounce off the rim--up into the rafters and straight down through the hoop--ate up some valuable time.

That led to The Play, which was actually designed for Maxwell (21 points, 11 rebounds), along with Marques Johnson (21 points). It was an isolation play, and Maxwell had the ball on the baseline in an enviable position. As Edwards says, “No way Max is not fouled or does not score in that situation.”

Maxwell eventually was double-teamed, as Edwards’ defender, John Bagley, drifted over. Pop, the ball went to Edwards, and that was that. “It was probably the last option of the play,” Edwards admitted, “but. . . . “

So it was that his shooting even overshadowed that of World B. Free, who scored a game-high 23 points. But one of his misses loomed larger than any of his baskets. Benoit Benjamin, 7-0, leaped to tip a Free shot out of this world and short of the basket. “He really got up on that shot,” Chaney said. “But then Marques had done a job on Free all night long. . . . “

That final quarter certainly made up for unspectacular play in the previous three.

The first half, as far as the Clippers were concerned, was distinguished by only minor failures, indicating an improvement in play over Sunday’s loss. Looking back, you could cite things like Johnson’s missed layup as critical. It was a finger roll that might as well have been a dinner roll, so badly did it bounce off the rim.

Or it was a matter of the Clippers missing free throws that put them in a one-point hole after the half. In fact, Benjamin might have projected the game into a deadlock had he made both his free throws at the end of the half. Maxwell missed one near the end, too.

Earlier in the half, after Maxwell had missed the first of two free throws, a fan, clearly heard in the Sports Arena, yelled down, “Go back to Boston,” which tells you what kind of crowd it was--small (6,856). Maxwell looked up, easily identified the fan in crowd and smiled.

But that stuff was largely forgotten afterward, and Chaney expressed nothing but satisfaction in his team’s effort. “There was good defense and great team ball, and we moved. We were alert,” he said. “I’m hoping that from here on in, we’ll play at this level. In fact, I’ll be content if we play at this level and don’t make the playoffs. But if we do play at this level, I feel sure we will make them.”

The Clippers made no great advancement toward the NBA playoffs Tuesday night, but for Chaney, who spent the last Clipper post-mortem punching walls in a shootout with team owner Donald Sterling, the victory allowed some form of contentment.

Chaney was obviously pleased with Edwards, whose previous erratic play had put him way down the bench. “Now Norm (Nixon) has to move in front of Frankie,” he said. “That’s the way it goes.”