Kids in the Hallway

If ABC insists on a Tom Petty soundtrack for the NBA playoffs -- even though none of the players or the coveted 18- to 24-year-old demographic has any Tom Petty songs on their iPods -- then we have no choice but to do it this way.

Here’s a Petty-inspired look at the second round of the playoffs as the Clippers get ready to face those L.A. Hallway Series heartbreakers, the Phoenix Suns.

The Waiting (Is the Hardest Part)

It has been a week since the Clippers finished off the Denver Nuggets.

“It was very strange having so much time off,” Elton Brand said.

The Suns had only one off day to recuperate from the Laker series and prepare for the Clippers. So now we’ve been subjected to one of the worst parts of the playoffs: The argument over whether it’s better to be rested or to have the momentum from playing games regularly. My theory is it’s better to be in the flow than on the couch. Sure, every team can use a little time for injuries to heal, but fatigue shouldn’t be an issue now. There’s so much time to rest during the extra-long TV timeouts, and there’s always at least one day off between games.

Momentum’s a precious commodity in the playoffs, and it can be hard to regain. Shaun Livingston and Corey Maggette in particular were playing well for the Clippers at the end of the Denver series. Will they be able to pick up where they left off? Or will Leandro Barbosa (is there a more menacing-sounding name in the NBA?) stay as hot as he was at the end of the Laker series?

“If we come out fresh and everybody feels great and we win some games on the road, then [rest’s an] advantage,” Brand said. “If we come out rusty and don’t hit shots, then we’ve got an excuse for a disadvantage.”

Don’t Do Me Like That

The Clippers can’t let the Suns run at will the way they did against the Lakers in the last two games.

“You look at the last series, when they scored 100 points, they won all the games, when they scored under 100 points they lost all the games,” Coach Mike Dunleavy said.

The best way to defend the Suns is to play a measured offense. Don’t get caught up in their running ways. This is where Sam Cassell has to prevail and tell everyone where to go and what to do, while insisting the ball gets to the post players.

“We’ve got to play our game,” Dunleavy said. “We’ve got to control the tempo of this game. Our shot selection and how well we handle the basketball.”

The Clippers kept Denver from running free in the transition game, and they should have similar success against Phoenix. They won’t slow down the Suns completely, but if they can keep the scores in the 90s, it will be a victory.

You Got Lucky

Yes, the Clippers wanted to sleep in their own cribs for the next two weeks and technically would have had home-court advantage if they had played the Lakers.

That said, if Brand had to hear one more Laker-related question he might have snapped like Jan Brady in her “Marcia, Marcia, Marcia” meltdown.

Now the Clippers don’t have to hear any talk about being the “other” team. They’re the only basketball show in L.A. at the moment.

Brand said on national TV the other day that it felt strange to be rooting for the Lakers, but it’s not as if he were going to get a cut of all the “Hallway Series” merchandise that would have been sold at Staples Center. Too bad for the Lakers.

“I’m not disappointed,” Brand said. “They’re disappointed.”

Don’t Come Around Here No More

In other words, get that weak stuff out of here. The Clippers led the league in blocked shots this season.

In Game 7, the Suns’ path to the hoop was as easy as the Gorilla’s during his timeout skits. The Clippers have to do just as good a job preventing Phoenix alley-oops as they did during the Denver series. They can’t let Steve Nash get off his little scoop shots or let Barbosa race down the lane.

“Chris Kaman and myself, we want to contest shots, block shots,” Brand said. “You give them the easy layups, then they start feeling good about those long three-pointers that they can hit.”

The Clippers excelled at blocking shots by sending help from the weak side and catching the shooters by surprise when they got to the hoop. Here’s the problem:

The Suns had the least amount of their shots blocked of all the teams in the league. Phoenix spreads the floor so well that it will be difficult for the second defender to get there in time. And whom do you leave? My picks would be Boris Diaw (because he won’t hit a three-pointer on you) and Raja Bell.

Learning to Fly

The Clippers are still figuring out this whole playoff thing.

“We haven’t faced adversity yet,” Cuttino Mobley said. “The Denver team was struggling a bit from the outside, and now we’ve got a team that’s penetrating and shoots really well from the outside, with the MVP of the league coming up. It’s going to be a hard one. We’ll get tested now. This is our test.”

The Clippers will take awhile, but at the back end of the series they’ll get it figured out. Clippers in seven.

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J.A. Adande can be reached at j.a.adande@latimes.com. To read more by Adande, go to latimes.com/adandeblog.