LOS ANGELES - When the Los Angeles Clippers are moving the ball, they're a
very difficult team to shut down. Reserve Corey Maggette led Los Angeles
with 23 points and 12 rebounds Saturday night in a 114-108 victory over
the
Phoenix Suns, and his teammates pitched in with a variety of
contributions.
Sam Cassell also had 23 points, Cuttino Mobley had 18, and Elton Brand had
15 points and 10 rebounds. Tim Thomas had eight points and 13 rebounds
against his former Phoenix teammates, and Shaun Livingston came off the
bench to score 14 points and dish off nine assists.
"When we move the ball and get eight, nine, 10 or 11 touches, who can you
stop?" Mobley said. "You have an Elton Brand, Tim Thomas, Cuttino Mobley,
Corey Maggette, Shaun Livingston, Sam Cassell. You have all those guys."
Los Angeles coach Mike Dunleavy was pleased.
"I thought this was a really good character win for us," Dunleavy said.
"We
did a lot of good things."
Steve Nash led the Suns with 28 points and 13 assists, and Shawn Marion
had
25 points and 15 rebounds.
The Clippers, who lost the season opener at Phoenix on Wednesday night,
improved to 2-1 and the defending Pacific Division champion Suns fell to
1-3.
"Everybody is frustrated, but we do have plenty of time to work on it,"
Phoenix coach Mike D'Antoni said. "And we will do that."
The Suns' Kurt Thomas, who had 15 points and 12 rebounds, said Phoenix
will
improve as Amare Stoudemire comes along.
"We're still trying to work the big fella back into our game," Thomas
said.
"It's going to take a little time, but once he gets back in, he will give
us
that inside presence that we are missing right now."
Stoudemire, working his way back from knee surgeries, played just 11
minutes
and scored two points.
The Suns defeated the Clippers 112-107 in the season opener.
"They beat us over there, and we couldn't lose this game tonight," Brand
said of the rematch.
Down by two heading into the fourth quarter, the Clippers opened a 107-97
lead on Chris Kaman's free throw with 3:19 remaining and were in front by
at
least five the rest of the way.
After the Suns fell behind 58-43 early in the third quarter, Nash led a
comeback with 13 points in the period.
Reserve Leandro Barbosa added 10 points for the Suns in the third, and
Nash's driving layup with 2 seconds remaining in the period gave Phoenix
an
82-80 lead.
Barbosa finished with 13 points.
Maggette scored 16 points in the second quarter to spark the Clippers to a
56-43 halftime lead.
Notes:@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
G-F Jalen Rose, who signed a one-year, $1.5 million contract with
the Suns on Friday, was in street clothes and sat behind the bench during
the game. He is scheduled to undergo a physical Sunday in Phoenix and play
at San Antonio on Wednesday. He received a $14.5 buyout from the New York
Knicks. ... Tim Thomas averaged 14.7 points and 6.1 rebounds for the Suns
when they eliminated the Clippers in their seven-game Western Conference
semifinal last summer. He went 2-for-8 for nine points and had eight
rebounds in the Clippers' season-opening loss at Phoenix on Wednesday.
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