Clippers Have Little in Reserve

The Clipper bench reached another low in Wednesday night’s 110-94 loss to the Indiana Pacers before an announced crowd of 7,732 at the Sports Arena.

Ricky Pierce had 19 points in 16 minutes as a reserve for the Pacers and Eddie Johnson had 14 points and six rebounds in 20 minutes as Indiana’s reserves outscored their Clippers counterparts, 37-11.

Guards Brent Barry and Terry Dehere were the only Clipper reserves who scored. Barry had seven points in 23 minutes, making three of 10 shots, and Dehere scored four points in the final 25 seconds as the the Clippers lost for the 17th time in their last 22 games.

“Our bench was outscored, 37-11?” guard Terry Dehere asked. “Wow, that’s a lot of points. They’ve got some pretty good players coming off the bench in Eddie Johnson and Ricky Pierce. They both have a pretty good idea of how to put the ball in the hole. That’s their style.”

Center Rik Smits, who had a career-high 44 points as the Pacers beat the Clippers last month at Indianapolis, had 25 points and 10 rebounds as Indiana extended its winning streak against the Clippers to seven games.

Dale Davis had 17 points and 12 rebounds and Reggie Miller had 15 points.

Clipper forward Loy Vaught had a season-high 25 points and center Brian Williams, who averaged 19 points in his last four games, had 24 points and 14 rebounds.

“They’ve got so much depth,” Vaught said. “They were too much for us tonight.”

Meanwhile, former Laker forward Antonio Harvey, waived by the Vancouver Grizzlies last week, signed with the Clippers before the game.

The Clippers will pay $140,000 of Harvey’s $400,000 salary, with Vancouver picking up the rest.

“I started out here and it feels like coming home, only with a different team,” Harvey said, “I had some other offers but I felt this was a good offer because I’m familiar with my surroundings and I felt I could come in and help the team.”

How do the Clippers plan to use him?

“About the ninth chair down from me tonight,” Fitch said of Harvey, who didn’t play. “He brings another body to the front court. He’s more or less a troubleshooter. He gives us another six fouls.”

Harvey spent two seasons with the Lakers before being selected by Vancouver in the NBA expansion draft last June.

“I didn’t think I was being used in the proper way [in Vancouver] and they didn’t feel like maybe I could help them in the way they thought I could,” Harvey said. “It was a mutual thing.”

Clipper Notes

Forward Rodney Rogers, sidelined since Dec. 5 because of a sprained right ankle, has returned to practice and may be activated soon. . . . Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said center Stanley Roberts, out since Nov. 30 because of a sprained left ankle, is progressing well. “I’m optimistic about old Stanley,” Fitch said. “He kept his weight down and he’s been very religious in doing his two-a-day therapy. Those that said we wouldn’t see him again this year, I think will be wrong. I think we’re going to see him back in uniform” Forward Eric Piatkowski, averaging 15.6 minutes per game, played only the final 39 seconds.