Clippers’ Manning Makes the Right Choice : Pro basketball: He passes to Harper, who hits the shot that beats the Pacers, 104-102.

The amazing thing was that two Clippers were wide open. All Danny Manning had to do was choose his target.

Doc Rivers was 10 feet out on the right side, almost directly in front of where Manning was making his inbounds pass with seven seconds left. But Ron Harper was closer. Manning got him the ball, and Harper flipped in a shot from under the basket with 5.4 seconds left that gave the Clippers a 104-102 victory Wednesday night over the Indiana Pacers.

“I was going up, and the more up I went, I knew I would get off a good shot,” Harper said after getting 19 points, seven assists and six rebounds. “It was a hook shot I started shooting sometime in ninth grade.

“It was set for Doc to get the shot. I guess they fell asleep or whatever. Danny just made a real nice bounce pass to me.”

The Pacers’ attempt at a response and the victory was LaSalle Thompson’s three-pointer with a second left. The shot was short, but Manning grabbed the ball out of midair. It could have been goaltending.

So, as the Clippers--and especially Coach Mike Schuler--celebrated an emotional victory, the Pacers complained. The Market Square Arena fans joined in, one throwing coins as official Mike Mathis passed by, prompting Mathis to hold his jacket in front of his face. Someone else threw trash at him a moment later.

“I can’t comment until I see the tape, but I thought it was one of the dumbest (defensive) plays I’ve seen in my life, and he got away with it,” Indiana Coach Bob Hill said of Manning. “I can’t comment until I see the tape, but I thought he hit the ball before it hit the rim, and that’s goaltending.”

Said Manning, who finished with a game-high 22 points: “I thought it was real short.”

The Pacers were at a critical time, short on memory. Leading, 102-101, Chuck Person grabbed a Clipper miss and called time out as he was falling out of bounds.

Except that the Pacers didn’t have a timeout left.

That meant an automatic technical foul, which Rivers converted with 43 seconds left for a 102-102 tie. This, after the Clippers’ other victory on the 2-2 trip, last Thursday at Charlotte, was aided by an ill-advised Hornet technical.

The Clippers will take ‘em any way they can get them. At the start of the day, their longest journey of the season already was surrounded by dusk and quickly heading into complete darkness.

General Manager Elgin Baylor had considered joining the club for the final two games of the trip, Friday at Philadelphia and Saturday at Washington, though a tight schedule of scouting college games and continuing to work the phones for a trade probably will prevent it.

Schuler then read in a national newspaper that players are disgruntled because he is calling too many plays, and that one starter has even stopped talking to him. What the story didn’t say is that the front office is concerned at the lack of a running game.

Schuler called the story lies, but he was bothered enough that he called a meeting at the morning practice. Starters only, reserves on the court.

“What a joke,” said one player, shaking his head.

After this came another emotional victory, the Clippers going much of the way without injured Charles Smith and rallying from a 12-point deficit in the final eight minutes.

“So much for the finger pointing and such an unhappy squad,”Schuler said. “To come back and play like that, to play as hard as we did, for such a long, long time. . . .”

He didn’t finish the thought. He didn’t think he needed to.

Clipper Notes

The Clippers hope to fill their vacant roster spot today by signing veteran guard Danny Young, who is expected to clear waivers after being released Tuesday by Portland. . . . Charles Smith, who suffered a strained muscle in his right shoulder in Monday’s loss at New Jersey, left the game for good with 8:25 remaining in the second quarter because of persistent soreness and weakness in the joint. He is “questionable to doubtful” for Saturday.