Suns Get Burned on Defense

It was another Game 6 at Staples Center, but Tim Thomas couldn’t save the Phoenix Suns with a late three-point basket.

Steve Nash couldn’t save them either, although he finally made a three-pointer.

Shawn Marion did what he could, but the Suns’ troubles ran deeper than his 34 points.

Their nemesis tapped them on the shoulders, turned them around and dragged them back to Phoenix for Game 7. Their sponge-soft defense had brought them down again.

The Suns allowed the Clippers to shoot 61.5%, an alarming rate even for a team that considers defense to be an afterthought.

The Clippers don’t exactly have a glorious playoff history, but their shooting percentage was good enough for a franchise playoff record.

Elton Brand made 14 of 21 shots. Chris Kaman made seven of eight. So did Corey Maggette. Quinton Ross made nine of 14. Quinton Ross made nine of 14?

“We just couldn’t stop them,” Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni said.

On paper they did. The box score that was placed in front of D’Antoni for his postgame news conference had the Suns beating the Clippers.

“Is this one right?” he said, half-smiling.

Unfortunately for him, it was from a game last year.

The Clippers pummeled the Suns down low in their 118-106 victory Thursday, scoring a staggering 66 points in the lane.

The Clippers took only five three-point shots, with good reason.

Brand had his typically sound night, 30 points and 12 rebounds, but the Suns were overly generous to Maggette, who had been struggling, and Ross, known much more for his defense. Maggette finished with 25 points and Ross had a career-best 18 points.

“It’s Corey Maggette shooting seven for eight that’s killing us,” D’Antoni said. “Quinton Ross, 16 points in the first half, those are the numbers that are killing us.”

Despite the new playoff record, Clippers Coach Mike Dunleavy wanted a better shooting percentage than 61.5%.

“Sixty-two,” he said wryly. “We moved the ball, found open guys, got high-percentage shots. We needed every bit of it. They’re a high-powered offense that’s hard to stop.”

The night in a microcosm: The Suns had sliced into a 17-point Clippers lead and had the ball with 4:19 to play, but Brand blocked Leandro Barbosa’s layup attempt and, at the other end, Maggette converted a three-point play after getting fouled on a layup.

Suns’ run? Done.

It wasn’t all a lost cause for the Suns.

Nash made a three-point shot -- finally -- with 3:57 left in the first quarter, ending an 0-for-13 drought from long range since Game 1.

But Nash’s shot continued to go asunder -- 17 points on six-for-16 shooting -- and Thomas had three points on one-for-six shooting. Two weeks ago against the Lakers, it was Thomas’ three-pointer with 6.3 seconds left in the fourth quarter of Game 6 that helped send the Suns’ first-round series back to Phoenix.

Thomas, who has been guarding Brand for most of the series, looked fatigued.

“I think he was weary because he was banging on Elton Brand for 50 minutes last game,” D’Antoni said. “That’s not an easy job for anybody.”

The Suns have played 13 games in 25 days, the most of any playoff team. They’ll have three days to rest before Game 7 in Phoenix.

“Guess what?” D’Antoni said. “If we’re good enough, we’ll win.”