Clippers Rebound to Take Game 2 Vs. Suns

By BOB BAUM

PHOENIX – The Los Angeles Clippers rebounded with a capital “R” to win Game 2 of the Western Conference semifinals.

The bigger Clippers swamped the Phoenix Suns on the boards 57-26 in a 122-97 victory Wednesday night that evened the best-of-seven series. Game 3 is in Los Angeles on Friday night.

Elton Brand, coming off a 40-point performance in Game 1, had 27 points and 10 rebounds as all five Clippers starters scored in double figures.

Cuttino Mobley, held to three points on 1-for-6 shooting in Game 1, scored 23, as did Sam Cassell, the Clippers’ 36-year-old point guard. Chris Kaman added 14 points and 16 rebounds and Quentin Ross scored 11 points.

Raja Bell, who opened the game 0-for-5, led the Suns with 20 points, while Leandro Barbosa added 19 and Tim Thomas 15. Steve Nash had 14 points and eight assists, then sat out the final 5:44.

But the story of this game was rebounding. The Clippers dominated the offensive boards 19-5, leading to a 31-6 advantage in second-chance points.

Los Angeles led by as many as 20 points in the first half and 21 in the third quarter.

Cassell scored eight points as the Clippers bolted to a 20-6 lead. Cassell’s three-point play with 33 seconds left put Los Angeles ahead 38-22 after one quarter, and the Clippers scored the first four points of the second to take a 42-22 lead on Corey Maggette’s inside basket with 11:17 left in the half.

Barbosa, who had 10 points in the second quarter, scored seven in a 9-0 Suns spurt that cut it to 42-31 on his three-point play 9:12 before halftime. The Brazilian’s 3-pointer sliced the lead to 50-41 with 5:16 left in the second. The Suns never got within single digits again.

Shaun Livingston’s tip-in with 1:47 left in the half put Los Angeles up 63-46. Shawn Marion scored on a drive and was fouled, but missed the free throw. Then Bell’s 3-pointer cut it to 63-51 with 1:10 to play. Marion missed a wide-open layup that would have sliced the lead to 10, then Livingston scored inside just before the halftime buzzer and the Clippers led 65-51.

Phoenix never cut into that 14-point lead in the second half.

Ross’ three-point play on an offensive rebound gave Los Angeles an 86-65 lead with 5:54 left in the third quarter.

Notes:@ The Clippers had more offensive rebounds in the first half (15) than the Suns had defensive rebounds (14). … According to the Elias Sports Bureau, the Clippers’ 59 percent shooting in Game 1 was the highest for a losing team in the playoffs since Milwaukee shot 63 percent and lost to Detroit in the first round in 1976. … The Suns are 0-4 in the playoffs when they fail to score 100.