Barkley Picked Bad Night to Watch the Clippers Play : Pro basketball: Phoenix star takes night off to rest his knee, and Suns are stunned at Sports Arena, 110-99.

All-Star forward Charles Barkley and the Phoenix Suns didn’t take the Paper Clips, as Barkley once called the Clippers, seriously.

After all, when you share the best record in the NBA, it’s difficult to find the motivation to play the NBA’s worst team.

With Barkley resting his sore left knee, the Clippers, who had lost the first four games of the season series to Phoenix by an average of 19 points, eclipsed the Suns, 110-99, Tuesday night before an announced 13,137 at the Sports Arena.

“Granted, they didn’t have Barkley out there and that’s a big number of their team, but they’ve beaten a lot of teams with Barkley out of there and I’m glad we weren’t one of them,” Clipper Coach Bill Fitch said.

Reserve forward Michael Smith, playing in his fifth game after signing with the Clippers last week, had 17 points and seven rebounds in 16 minutes as the Clippers defeated the Suns for the first time in nine games.

“I’m sure there were guys in the front row saying ‘Who’s he?’ ” Fitch said of Smith, who spent the past two seasons playing in Spain after being cut by the Boston Celtics.

Smith made three of four shots in the final quarter as the Clippers shot 75% (12 of 16) and outscored Phoenix in the fourth quarter, 35-24.

“He surprised them,” Clipper forward Loy Vaught said of Smith. “People haven’t seen him in a long time and nobody really knows how he plays.”

The Boston Celtics’ top draft pick in 1989, Smith spent 2 1/2 seasons with the Celtics before he was cut. After being cut by the Milwaukee Bucks during training camp in 1992, he went to Spain.

“I went over there to see what European ball was like, but I made up my mind that I wanted to get back in the league,” Smith said. “I’ve always had offers to come into camps for $20,000 or $30,000 and then make do.”

Trailing by 86-80, the Clippers used a 23-7 run to take a 103-93 lead. The Suns cut it to 103-96 on a three-point play by guard Kevin Johnson, who had a season-high 31 points.

But reserve forward Harold Ellis scored four consecutive points and set up teammate Charles Outlaw, who had nine points, three rebounds and four blocks, for a layup with a spectacular behind-the-back pass as the Clippers held off the Suns.

“This win is a big one because Phoenix is supposedly the best team in the West,” said Ellis, who scored five of his seven points in the fourth quarter.

Forward Lamond Murray had 18 points and guard Malik Sealy added 17 points. Point guard Pooh Richardson had 11 points and 10 assists.

Although the Clippers have won only 11 games this season, they have defeated eight teams that would be in the playoffs if the season ended today.

Barkley who had averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds in two games against the Clippers this season, sat out the game after suffering a mildly sprained left knee in Sunday’s 103-92 victory over the Charlotte Hornets.

“We can’t just sleepwalk, now,” said Barkley, who said he plans to play tonight against the Lakers at the Forum. “These guys have won a couple games at home. . . . And I mean that literally, they’ve won a couple games at home.”

But the Suns looked like they were sleepwalking as they lost for the third time in five games.

Clipper Notes

Phoenix forward Danny Manning, the former Clipper who suffered a season-ending knee injury on Feb. 6, underwent three hours of surgery Tuesday at Centinela Hospital Medical Center in Inglewood. Manning, who tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee as a rookie in 1989, tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee when he ran into center Joe Kleine in practice. Richard Emerson, the Suns’ team physician, performed the surgery along with Steve Lombardo, who repaired Manning’s right knee.