His Wrist Is Bad, but Wilkins Good for a Smooth 42 : Pro basketball: Clippers hold off Laker rally, make up for embarrassment against Seattle, 108-103.

Dominique Wilkins of the Clippers almost didn’t play in Saturday night’s game against the Lakers because he had a sprained right wrist.

But Wilkins decided to play after testing his wrist in pregame warm-ups. He was eager to play against the Lakers for the first time since he joined the Clippers, and he wanted to avenge Thursday’s embarrassing 49-point loss at Seattle.

Wilkins scored a season-high 42 points as the Clippers held off the Lakers, 108-103, Saturday night before a sellout crowd of 16,005 at the Sports Arena.

One game after suffering the second-worst loss in franchise history, the Clippers (27-51) rebounded by beating the Lakers (33-45) for the second consecutive time after losing the first three games of the series this season.

“It meant a lot to us to win this game and kind of redeem ourselves from the embarrassment we had in Seattle,” Wilkins said. “This game was kind of special because we played so bad the last game.”

Wilkins, who had shot only 36% in his last four games, didn’t seem bothered by his sprained wrist. He made 16 of 30 shots, including the final two baskets of the game, as the Clippers ended a five-game losing streak and extended the Lakers’ losing streak to a season-high six games. Wilkins also had 11 rebounds, two assists and two blocked shots.

“I’m surprised I was able to shoot the ball that well,” Wilkins said. “But once you get into the thick of things, you have a way of forgetting about the pain.”

Wilkins made a spectacular block of a Doug Christie shot, and guard Mark Jackson, who had 12 points and 12 assists, then fed Ron Harper, who had 19 points, for a three-pointer with 1:41 left in the third quarter. The Clippers took an 86-70 lead into the fourth quarter. The Clippers held the Lakers, who shot only 20% in the third quarter, to 11 third-quarter points.

The Lakers, who trailed by 20 points with 10:13 remaining, outscored the Clippers, 26-12, to trim the Clipper lead to 102-96 with 3:09 remaining.

“I was happy about the effort,” said Laker Coach Magic Johnson, who is 5-7 since replacing Randy Pfund last month. “I told them if we had been playing like this all along, we would be in the playoffs. We fought back and played smart. That’s all you can ask.”

Trailing, 104-98, after Harper made a free throw, the Lakers cut it to 104-103 after Nick Van Exel, who had a team-high 28 points, made a three-pointer and Tony Smith made a jumper with 1:22 left.

Guard George Lynch then stole a Harper pass, but Van Exel shot an airball on a drive and Wilkins blocked a desperation jumper by Kurt Rambis as the shot clock expired with 46 seconds left.

“I felt it leaving my hand and slip a little bit,” Van Exel said. “I didn’t get the full release I wanted, so I knew it was going to be short.”

Wilkins then made a jumper with 25.4 seconds left for 106-103 and dunked after Van Exel missed another shot.

Clipper-Laker Notes

Laker rookie forward Antonio Harvey left the game with 6:56 remaining in the first half with a rapid heartbeat and was taken to Centinela Hospital Medical Center for observation. Harvey, who experienced similar problems in college, was expected to spend the night in the hospital. . . . Laker forward James Worthy didn’t play. It was only the second time in Worthy’s career that he didn’t play in a game because of a coaches’ decision. “It wasn’t that tough,” Worthy said. “I kind of understood before the game that it would be limited minutes, if anything.” . . . Clipper forward John Williams, who had sat out the last five games because of a small fracture of his left ankle, had 11 points, two rebounds and four assists in 33 minutes.