Any Wind Left in Clippers’ Sails?

The Clippers face a rough road, and the Phoenix Suns are standing in their way.

They trail the Suns, 3-2, in the best-of-seven Western Conference semifinals, and need a victory tonight in Game 6 at Staples Center to extend their franchise-best season.

After Tuesday’s emotionally and physically draining double-overtime loss in Game 5, some in the organization privately expressed concern the Clippers had squandered their best chance to win a second playoff series in a season for the first time. Coach Mike Dunleavy and players, however, were not among those ready to wave white flags.

Defying expectations has defined this bunch, players said, and they expect to return to Phoenix on Monday night for Game 7. Of course, they have to win tonight.

“We can’t worry about Game 5,” swingman Corey Maggette said. “Yeah, it’s tough, it was physically draining and also emotionally draining for this team, but we just have to bounce back. If not, we’ll be packing our bags to go home.”

The Clippers were positioned to win Tuesday’s game, then Suns guard Raja Bell made a three-point shot over Daniel Ewing with 1.1 seconds left in the first overtime to force the second overtime.

Energized by Bell’s big shot, the Suns sprinted to a 125-118 victory.

“We don’t want to do your typical give them a game back because we’re a game up,” Suns point guard Steve Nash said. “If we can come out and have a real maturity, and be extremely focused and professional, it would be a great opportunity for us. It’s going to be a tough game for us, but we love that.”

In NBA history, teams that win the fifth game in a series tied, 2-2, have won 84% of the series.

“Every game, we’ve had our shot to win the game,” Phoenix Coach Mike D’Antoni said. “I think we’ll have a shot [tonight].” And even if the Clippers force a Game 7, they’ll face another historical hurdle.

In the seventh game of best-of-seven series, teams with home-court advantage have won 81.7% of series. Phoenix traveled this path recently, routing the Lakers in Game 7 of their first-round series at US Airways.

“It would be a hard road even if we win [tonight], but we’ve been doing things people haven’t expected the entire season,” the Clippers’ Elton Brand said. “No one expected us to be in this position ... but our confidence hasn’t wavered too much.

“We’ve played well on their court. You just have to do what you have to do, win at home, and continue to grow and learn from all these mistakes and everything.”

Not surprisingly, the Clippers, making their first playoff appearance in nine seasons, have experienced postseason growing pains.

Dunleavy tried to prepare the Clippers for the increased intensity of games, the changes in officiating and the significance of every mistake, but there’s no substitute for on-the-job training.

The Clippers failed to box out consistently in Game 5, and Suns forward Shawn Marion burned them for 36 points and 20 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds.

Although the Clippers outrebounded the Suns, 57-50, their edge wasn’t big enough, players said, considering their size advantage. Center Chris Kaman, who sat out Game 4 because of a strained right shoulder, played well (11 points and 10 rebounds), but the Clippers must rebound better as a group.

“When the shot goes up, we’re ball-watching,” Dunleavy said. “Guys are coming in and they get scores. I told our guys that this series could be lost on nothing to do with their ability to shoot three-pointers, or their ability to beat you off the dribble.

“It could be lost on mental toughness. When a shot goes up, they’ve got to focus and go get a body on someone. Any one of those scores that we didn’t box out on [Tuesday] night is the difference between us winning and losing.”

But the Clippers aren’t finished, Dunleavy said.

“There’s no question in my mind that we have the ability to win [tonight], and we have the ability to win Monday night, that’s not even an issue,” he said. “Getting it done is two different things, but we’re not saying we had a lucky shot at it and we can’t beat these guys.

“We could have won every game in Phoenix, and these teams are tightly matched. I said before the series that I didn’t see it being a home-court series. It’s going to come down to which team plays its game better than the other.”