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 The 38-year-old Cassell, who was 7-for-31 in his previous four games, burned the Suns by making 15 of 21 shots to help the Clippers snap a four-game losing streak and win for just the second time in 12 games. He also had six rebounds and seven assists.
Corey Maggette added 21 points, Cuttino Mobley scored 12 and Tim Thomas added 11 for the Clippers (11-23), who had lost 11 of their previous 12 home games. Chris Kaman shot 3-for-14 and scored nine points, but his 19 rebounds led Los Angeles to a 48-36 advantage in that department.
The Clippers were coming off their toughest loss of the season, a 95-94 setback to Dallas on Jerry Stackhouse's 3-pointer as time expired. Before that, they lost close games to San Antonio and Orlando, another pair of first-place teams.
But they had enough to beat the Suns (26-12), who had rallied from double-figure deficits for victories in three of their previous six games.
Amare Stoudemire led Phoenix with 29 points and eight rebounds. Raja Bell scored 15 points, Steve Nash added 14 points and 13 assists, and Shawn Marion had 14 points and 17 rebounds for the Suns, who fell a half-game behind the Los Angeles Lakers (26-11). Those teams meet Thursday night at Staples Center.
Nash scored seven points during a 12-4 run that cut the Clippers lead to 80-77 with 5:45 remaining. But that's as close as the Suns would get.
Cassell made three jumpers in a little over two minutes, and baskets by Kaman and Mobley made it 92-84 with 1:28 to play.
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Cassell scored 10 points and Maggette added seven during a 21-8 run that put the Clippers on top 74-63 before Bell made a jumper to end the third period and draw the Suns within nine.
A three-point play by Thomas and two jumpers by Mobley gave Los Angeles a 39-31 lead early in the second quarter. The Clippers led 49-48 at halftime thanks mainly to a 55 percent shooting effort. They wound up shooting 52.5 percent to 40.7 percent for the Suns.
The Suns made their first five shots -- three by Stoudemire and 3-pointers by Bell and Boris Diaw
-- for a quick 12-2 lead. Phoenix led 21-12 when Cassell got hot, scoring 10 points during a 16-7 run that gave the Clippers a 28-27 lead entering the second quarter.
Cassell, slowed by injuries much of the season and shooting just 40.2 percent beforehand, shot 6-of-8 for 14 points in the first period.
Notes: The game matched the NBA's highest-scoring team in the Suns (110.3 points per game) and the lowest in the Clippers (92.6 points). ... The Suns had beaten the Clippers by an average of 15 points per game in their first three meetings this season. ... The Suns played their fourth game without F Grant Hill, who underwent an emergency appendectomy last Wednesday. Hill is expected to return to action sometime next week. ... Clippers G Guillermo Diaz made his NBA debut, going scoreless while playing nearly 5 1/2 minutes in the second quarter.
[Associated Press; By JOHN NADEL]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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