Clippers’ Ship Runs Aground in Phoenix

When a team wins 60 games, not all of them can be beautiful blowouts.

The Phoenix Suns reached the 60-win milestone for only the second time in the franchise’s 37-year history with an grind-it-out 98-91 victory over the Clippers on Friday night.

The Clippers went the final 4:26 without a point after tying it at 91-91. The Suns built their newfound success on speed and high scoring, but they outscored the Clippers by only 20-12 in the fourth quarter.

“The bottom line is that it’s 60 wins,” Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “Any way you dice, look at it, it’s 60. We’re proud of that, and we’ve still got three more games to go.”

Amare Stoudemire had 24 points and 17 rebounds -- nine of them on the offensive end -- and made 14 of 16 free throws.

Shawn Marion and Joe Johnson scored 20 points apiece for the Suns, who at 60-19 moved two games ahead of San Antonio for the best record in the NBA with three to play and clinched the homecourt edge over Miami should the two meet in the NBA Finals.

Jim Jackson, starting in place of injured Quentin Richardson, was only two of 12 from the field, but his three-point basket with 2:57 to play gave the Suns the lead for good, 94-91.

“The good thing is you always say the next one’s going to go in,” Jackson said. “You don’t ever think about the next one I’m going to miss.”

That score stood until Steve Nash’s two free throws with 15.2 seconds to play put Phoenix ahead, 96-91, its biggest lead of the game.

Elton Brand scored 22 points, but only two in the fourth quarter, for the Clippers. Chris Kaman scored 21, two shy of his career high. Bobby Simmons added 14 points and Marko Jaric 12.

Johnson acknowledged that the Suns haven’t been sharp lately, despite a three-game winning streak.

“These last few games we haven’t been ourselves,” he said. “Games that shouldn’t be tough, we’ve been making them tough, and putting a lot of pressure on our guys.”

But Marion pointed out that the Suns are winning.

“The thing that’s killing me is you all are expecting us to blow everybody out,” he said. “Man, we can’t blow everybody out. Regardless of what their record is, they are NBA players and you’ve got to respect them. Just because we ain’t winning by 20 doesn’t mean it’s not a good win.”

Nash had 14 points and 11 assists but made only six of 17 shots from the field. Leandro Barbosa added 12 points.

“We played really hard and did a lot of good things out there, but the 20 offensive rebounds we gave up was the difference in the game,” Clipper Coach Mike Dunleavy said, “and some of our turnovers, they weren’t forced. We must have stepped out of bounds five times.”

After a timeout with 22.3 seconds left, Zeljko Rebraca put up an airball from the top of the key.

“I thought it was a bad shot,” Dunleavy said, “but sometimes you make bad decisions.”

The Suns grabbed the ball, and Nash was fouled for the clinching free throws. Stoudemire made two free throws with 8.2 seconds left for the final margin.