For Clippers, Attention but Not a Victory : NBA playoffs: They push, but Utah wins, 103-92, and can finish series Tuesday night.

SALT LAKE CITY —  The Clippers pushed back Sunday, enough to alter impressions but not a series.

They didn’t wither again, after playing with questionable intensity Friday. They didn’t blink again in the glare of the playoff spotlight. But, most important, they didn’t win. The Utah Jazz, despite Karl Malone being turned into a human pinball at times, gained all the muscle in the series, taking a 2-0 advantage with a 103-92 victory at the Delta Center.

The physical style came as no surprise. The Clippers, pushed around Friday by a wrecking crew headed by Malone, had stated their intentions to make like Muscle Beach north in Game 2.

Ladies and gentlemen, the second coming of the Detroit Pistons?

“Not quite,” James Edwards, a former Piston, said, smiling. “But we’re getting there. For this team, it was a big step.”

Added Ron Harper: “It was a very big improvement. We played hard, and if you play hardyou can’t feel bad. In Game 1, we gave them too much. In Game 2, we made them earn it.”

The Clippers had 30 fouls, eight more than Utah and seven more than their Game 1 total. Of the 13 in the first half, four came away from the ball and three of those were directed at Malone, who was either bounced around when he cut through the lane without the ball or hit along the baseline as he looked to dig in and wait for the ball on the low post.

It worked, too. The Clippers led by as many as eight points in the second quarter, 48-40, and the teams were tied, 48-48, at halftime. Malone was four for 10 from the field and had four rebounds and an offensive foul at halftime. Mark Eaton had one rebound.

“I think that’s pretty much what we expected,” said Eaton, who finished with three blocked shots for the second consecutive game. “We thought they would come out and play physical, and I think we kind of got caught up with that and spent too much time jawing with the referees for a while. That affected our game plan. But as it went on, we regained our composure and did what we needed to do.”

Utah, which improved to 39-4 in its inaugural season in the Delta Center, made only seven of 21 shots in the third quarter but still moved out to a 75-65 lead. The counter was the Jazz shooting 13 for 16 from the foul line while the Clippers went five of 12.

The Clippers were behind, 80-70, when John Stockton sank a three-pointer with 11:10 to play. Then they charged back, tying the score, 84-84, when Harper drove from the left side with 5:28 remaining.

The Jazz responded with an 8-0 run, Karl Malone accounting for six of the points and absorbing three more Clipper fouls, and Jeff Malone scoring the other two. The Clippers got within 94-89 when Danny Manning made his first three-pointer of the season on only his sixth attempt, but Utah played power ball from there.

The Jazz went to Karl Malone, who was fouled three times in eight seconds, twice on the same possession, and made all four free throws. He distributed the ultimate black-and-blue mark: a game-high 32 points--10 in the fourth quarter--and a team-high 13 rebounds.

“It came down to them doing what they do best,” Clipper Charles Smith said. “That’s posting up Karl.”

Malone has 64 points and 23 rebounds the first two games. The Clippers, facing elimination, have until Tuesday night to figure a way to stop him under the basket at the Sports Arena in Game 3.

Manning led the Clippers in scoring for the second consecutive game with 22 points, and Harper added 20 points--despite going nine for 24--and 10 rebounds. Ken Norman had 14 rebounds (eight on offense) and 12 points.

Clipper Notes

Charles Smith played 29 minutes before fouling out with 24 seconds to play. He had a strained lower back that was so bad he spent parts of the game on his stomach just beyond the baseline. Smith, who had seven rebounds, three blocked shots and six points on two-for-seven shooting, suffered the injury in Game 1 and got an anti-inflammatory shot Saturday to help ready him for another go-round with Karl Malone. . . . Utah’s Jeff Malone sprained his left ankle after landing awkwardly following a jump shot in the third quarter, but still played eight minutes in the fourth. As for Tuesday? “I’ll be ready,” he said. “Hopefully, anyway.”

The assist scoreboard through the first two games: John Stockton 40, Clippers 37. Sunday, it was Stockton, 19-15. He also had 21 points. . . . Coach Larry Brown made his expected change to the starting lineup, moving Doc Rivers in and Gary Grant out. Rivers finished with 13 points, six assists and three fouls in 42 of a possible 48 minutes, and Grant, hurt by foul trouble in the opener, had four points, no assists and three fouls in 11 minutes. . . . Ken Norman and Ron Harper also played 42 minutes for the Clippers. . . . The Clippers were 11 for 25 from the line. . . . About 2,500 tickets still remain for Game 3 at the Sports Arena.

* QUICK TEMPER: Karl Malone flares, then cools to lead Jazz. C6