Coach Larry Brown loved to tinker with his roster and he and Elgin Baylor made some adjustments before the 1992-93 season. In a three-team deal, the Clippers acquired former Rookie of the Year Mark Jackson from New York and big center Stanley Roberts from Orlando. The price was a sore-kneed Charles Smith and veteran point guard Doc Rivers. Brown also brought in big John Williams from Washington.

The season started off well enough. They were five games above .500 in mid-December. The starting unit was Jackson and Ron Harper in the backcourt, Roberts at center, Danny Manning and Ken Norman at forward. The bench was capable with Loy Vaught, Gary Grant, Kiki Vandewegh and the newly acquired Williams. Manning had a career year. He scored almost 23-points a game and was named to the Western Conference All-Star team.

The Clippers finished the regular season with a 123-112 win before a sell-out crowd at the Sports Arena to finish the year at 41-41 and reach the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

Mark Jackson was a perfect replacement for Rivers. He contributed three triple-doubles to guide the team through its run to the playoffs.

The opponent this year would be the Houston Rockets with the series starting in Texas. The series opened ominously with an easy 117-94 Rocket victory. Hakeem Olajuwon was virtually unstoppable for the Rockets in the opener.

The Clippers made solid adjustments for Game 2. They controlled the pace in scoring an impressive 95-83 victory. The Clippers had stolen home court advantage from the Rockets. They wouldn’t have it for long. The Rockets got it back with a Game 3 win in Los Angeles. The Clippers stole Game 4 by three points to force a deciding Game 5 in Houston on May 8, 1993.

It was a nail-biting classic. Harper was spectacular for the Clippers. Olajuwon was still dominant for the Rockets. The play I remember though, was a late-game three-pointer that Vernon Maxwell threw in from just in front of my courtside broadcast location.

I wanted to reach out and grab him. Sure enough the shot was true and Houston scored a hard-fought 84-80 victory and the right to advance to Round 2. The back-to-back playoff appearances marked some heavy stuff for the Clippers and their fans. There seemed no reason to think this would ever end.