Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 124-118 win over the Suns

The Clippers pulled to within one game of the Utah Jazz for fourth place in the Western Conference with a win over the hapless Phoenix Suns on Thursday night. Here are five things we learned from their 124-118 victory to capture both ends of the back-to-back at Staples Center:

1. It made perfect sense for the Phoenix Suns to employ the Hack-a-Jordan with 2:26 left in the game.

After all, the Clippers were not overwhelming the Suns up to that point, holding just a 118-114 lead when DeAndre Jordan was intentionally fouled. And Jordan had been 0-for-2 from the free-throw line up to that point, including an airball.

Jordan went one-for-two from the line on this occasion, increasing the Clippers’ lead to three points. Coach Doc Rivers then removed Jordan from the game with 2:12 left, taking out his defensive and rebounding warrior to prevent any similar foul situations.

Jordan would return to the game later in the fourth and finish with seven points, 17 rebounds and three blocked shots.

2. The Clippers were out-rebounded by the smaller Suns 43-39. The Suns had 13 offensive rebounds, giving them more offensive opportunities against the Clippers. Jordan led the Clippers with 17 rebounds, and Blake Griffin had seven.

3. Jamal Crawford gave the Clippers a lift when they needed it the most. The NBA’s only three-time winner of the Sixth Man of the Year Award had 19 points off the bench for the Clippers. Crawford was six-for-11 from the field.

He had seven points (missing just one of his shots)in the fourth quarter, including making his only three-point attempt.

4. The Clippers actually shot the basketball well against the Suns. The Clippers made 55% of their shots, 54.5% of their three-pointers.

5. Defensively, the Clippers struggled to slow down the Suns, who made 53.3% of their shots and scored 66 points in the paint.

broderick.turner@latimes.com

Twitter: @BA_Turner