Clippers beat Suns to stay alive in playoff race

Jason Hart added 16 points and Quinton Ross had 15 points and seven rebounds for the Clippers, who remain one game behind the eighth-seeded Golden State Warriors for the final spot in the Western Conference. The Warriors blew out the Dallas Mavericks on Tuesday night.

The Clippers and Warriors, who split the season series against each other, end their regular seasons on Wednesday night. If the two teams end tied, the Clippers get the final spot by virtue of having a better division record.

Corey Maggette tallied 13 points and had 11 boards and Sam Cassell added 11 points for Los Angeles, which hosts the Hornets in its finale. Golden State plays at Portland.

"It was a must win game for us and we pulled it out," Thomas said. "This is a tough environment against a great team. Somehow, some way, we pulled it out. It was a total team effort. We got one more game to see what’s going on, but right now we have to just take care of our own business and hope that Portland will help us out a little bit. We’ll see."

Leandro Barbosa had 22 points and eight rebounds and Raja Bell tallied 17 points for the Suns, who finished their regular season with a 61-21 mark and will be the second seed in the postseason.

"It was kind of a bummer but it’s over with and we have a day off; we’ll be ready this weekend, who ever we’re playing," Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. "The good thing is we played good defense, we just didn’t rebound the ball yesterday and today, the second chance points just killed us."

Boris Diaw added 17 points and Amare Stoudemire scored 16 for Phoenix, which will either play the Lakers or Warriors in the first round.

Phoenix led by as many as five points early in the fourth quarter after Barbosa drained a three-pointer for an 82-77 edge with 8 1/2 minutes to play.

The Clippers, though, scored the next eight points to take the lead for good. Thomas’ three-pointer with 6 1/2 minutes to play broke a tie at 82 and capped the surge.

Los Angeles later led by as many as five points and used a pair of Hart free throws in the final seconds to help hold on. After Barbosa drew the Suns within 99-97 courtesy of a three-pointer with 32 seconds left, the Clippers milked the clock on the offensive end. Maggette missed a long jumper with 10 seconds remaining, but Thomas knocked the rebound out to Hart, who was then fouled with 7.8 seconds left. He hit both free throws to ice the win.

Steve Nash had just six points, but dished out 12 assists for the Suns, who trailed 21-20 after one quarter and 50-48 at halftime. Shawn Marion had 10 points for Phoenix, which led 73-71 going into the fourth quarter.

"I think this is potentially the best team I’ve ever been on," Nash said. "But potential is fool’s gold. We have to go out there and play with a lot of passion, energy, and discipline, be smart; play together. If we do those things we will have a chance to live up to our potential."

Game Notes

Phoenix went 33-8 at home this season...These two teams split the four-game season series...LA ended its road schedule with a 15-26 mark...The Clippers won for just the second time in six trips to Phoenix.