Even With Blanks, Bullets Top Clippers : Pro basketball: Big guns are sidelined but Washington wins, 101-94, in a game Schuler says ‘we should have won.’

And the bland played on.

Entering what is supposed to be a favorable part of their schedule, the Clippers got the wounded Washington Bullets placed on their doorstep and promptly got their pride handed back in a 101-94 loss Friday night at the Sports Arena before an announced crowd of 9,083.

The Clippers were outscored, 32-22, in the fourth quarter.

They failed to score more than 100 points for the fourth consecutive game.

They lost for the eighth time in nine tries and, suddenly, are half a game out of last place.

“It was worse this time because we know this is a team we should have taken advantage of and won the game,” said Loy Vaught, who provided one of the few Clipper highlights with 18 rebounds, two shy of his career high.

Said Coach Mike Schuler: “It’s very, very disappointing and very frustrating. There is no reason to try and kid anybody. This is a game we should have won.”

The Bullets (6-9) didn’t have their big guns in uniform. Bernard King and Tom Hammonds are on the injured list and John Williams is on the suspended list. The dangerous one who did suit up, Michael Adams, didn’t even make it out of the first quarter before being injured.

So it was left to Larry Stewart to cut the Clippers up for 14 points--10 during the fourth quarter--and 12 rebounds. That was a nice complement for Pervis Ellison, who had 25 points, eight rebounds and six blocked shots.

“It was the first game of a road trip,” Ellison said after the Bullets improved to 4-4 away from the Capital Centre. “It’s always important when you go to the West Coast and win the first game. We were fortunate to be able to do that tonight.”

Things went well early for the Clippers. They opened a 13-point lead by the second quarter, the last time at 32-19, and had Adams out of their hair for the rest of the night. The Bullets lost their leading scorer when he reinjured the dislocated middle finger of his left hand.

But it was too good to last for the Clippers.

Washington went on a 14-4 run to lead, 46-45, at halftime. Adams had played only 11 minutes and scored seven points before hurting the finger--injured Monday against Boston--late in the first quarter. But Harvey Grant picked up the slack for the Bullets with 14 points before halftime.

It wasn’t only that the Clippers lost the lead. It was how.

With the Clippers clinging to a 45-42 lead, Ron Harper’s bad pass became a dunk by the Bullets’ David Wingate with 1:15 to play. The Bullets were down by a point, but that changed soon enough, on Ellison’s slam with 14 seconds remaining for the 46-45 lead.

The Clippers recovered in the third quarter, if ever so slightly. They led heading into the final quarter, 72-69.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers began the night averaging only 98.1 points, third-worst in the league. Coach Mike Schuler finds it frustrating, but not confusing, citing opponents’ having made 28 more field goals despite taking 16 fewer shots. “I’m saying the same thing as a year ago,” said Schuler, whose Trail Blazers led the league in scoring during 1986-87. “We are not trying to walk the ball downcourt and play a half-court game. That is not our intent. We would very much like to rebound and run and make some easy baskets for ourselves.” . . . James Edwards returned to action after sitting out two games because of a badly bruised right thigh. In his absence Tuesday against Chicago, LeRon Ellis made the only first-half appearance of his rookie season.

One trade rumor, or at least a starting point, has the Clippers sending Ken Norman to Cleveland, which will trade John (Hot Rod) Williams to Miami. The Heat then sends Sherman Douglas to the Clippers. Two problems: Miami first needs to sign holdout Douglas, and his contract probably would exceed the approximately $1.2 Norman gets this season, so the Clippers couldn’t work it under the salary cap. General Manager Elgin Baylor declined comment on whether a trade featuring those three players has been discussed.