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Clippers Rebound to Take Game 2 Vs. Suns

Posted on: Thursday, 11 May 2006, 03:10 CDT

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.

Source: Associated Press/AP Online

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