Mailman Bites Clippers in the Second Half : Basketball: Malone scores 29 of his 37 points after the break. Spencer returns in 101-88 loss.

The Clippers did a superb job of holding Utah’s Karl Malone in check for the first half of Tuesday night’s game at the Sports Arena, limiting him to eight points.

But the Mailman scored 29 of his 37 points after halftime as the Jazz handed the Clippers their sixth consecutive loss, 101-88, before an announced 6,977.

Malone, who missed five of his first eight shots, wound up making 13 of 23 as Utah ended a two-game losing streak.

“He just executed the plays,” said the Clippers’ Tony Massenburg, who was matched against Malone. “They set a thousand picks for him. I don’t know how many points he ended up with, but it’s not the first time he’s done that.”

Malone made six of seven shots and scored 15 points in the third quarter as the Jazz, who trailed by seven points at halftime, outscored the Clippers, 31-18, to take a 74-68 lead into the fourth quarter.

“At the start of the third quarter we began to take it inside more,” Malone said. “We got more aggressive and that resulted in more free throws for us.”

Guard John Stockton, who last week passed Magic Johnson to become the NBA’s all-time assist leader, had 13 assists and 14 points.

Clipper center Elmore Spencer, who was activated from the injured list Monday, played eight minutes and made both of his shots and finished with five points, one rebound and one assist.

Clipper Coach Bill Fitch inserted Spencer into the game with 4:02 remaining in the third quarter. That was an effort to check Malone, who made four consecutive shots as the Jazz began the second half with a 25-9 run.

“I thought it was nice to have him back,” said Clipper forward Loy Vaught, who had a team-high 21 points and 14 rebounds. “He made some plays out there. He also had a few times where he showed that he was a little rusty, but that was expected. I thought he played well.”

Fitch said he plans to bring Spencer along slowly.

“I left him out there and he got tired,” Fitch said. “When he was playing before he got tired I thought he was effective. That’s a good comeback, first night back.”

Spencer was placed on the injured list because of personal and emotional problems after he was late to several practices. The Clippers became concerned after he stormed out of practice during training camp and walked several miles back to the team’s Newport Beach hotel.

The Clippers sent Spencer, who was treated for depression in 1987 when he was 18 after his mother died of a heart attack, to a psychiatrist for evaluation.

Spencer said he wanted to make it clear that his problems weren’t psychological.

“I would just like to state for the record, and if you need proof I can bring it, that I passed the (psychiatric) test,” Spencer said. “The doctor found me mentally sane and capable of working. I didn’t receive any counseling.”