Brand is hurting but not stopping

Elton Brand is focused on the Clippers’ bid for a Western Conference playoff berth, so don’t bother him about taking a break.

Brand has continued to lead the team’s postseason push despite playing with an injury he has declined to reveal publicly, saying he doesn’t have time for the pain.

At Coach Mike Dunleavy’s request, Brand reluctantly eased off the accelerator in practice recently, and trainer Jasen Powell has done his part to help the team’s franchise player continue to do his thing.

Brand has a responsibility to the organization, his teammates and the fans, he says, so it’s time to work.

“We’re definitely locked in right now,” Brand said. “We’re all concentrating on not just getting into the playoffs but getting to the seventh spot or wherever.

“Everybody has aches and pains at this time of the year, but you can’t worry about that. You have to go out, play hard every night and get what you want. It’s simple.”

If the team had already clinched a berth, Brand and other key players probably would get time off in the last few weeks of the season.

The Clippers, however, hold only a 1 1/2 -game lead over the Golden State Warriors for the eighth and final spot, so Dunleavy intends to rely on Brand and others down the stretch.

“He’s banged up, so we try not to practice him as much as usual,” Dunleavy said. “There are times when we can sit him out, so we do, but he’s obviously a big part of any success we have.”

Brand will keep pushing himself, Corey Maggette said.

“You know E.B. is going to go out there and give us that effort every night,” Maggette said. “We’re all trying to just get into the playoffs, and E.B. wants it as much as we all do.”

*

Sam Cassell would rather play 30-plus minutes each game, make clutch shots in the fourth quarter and help the Clippers qualify for the postseason.

That’s what Cassell expected to do this season, but the 37-year-old point guard’s body hasn’t cooperated. Dunleavy takes a wait-and-see approach with Cassell each game.

“Mike is in a real tough spot,” Cassell said. “He knows I want to be out there, helping my guys, but my body just hasn’t been right. Man, getting old is” hard.

Cassell is under contract next season for $6.1 million.

*

jason.reid@latimes.com