Suns fly away from the Clippers, 113-94

PHOENIX -- Cuttino Mobley plopped down in front of his locker, his hand resting on his chin, his left elbow resting in ice, his right leg resting in bandages.

The Clippers as a team are still aching and a 113-94 loss to the Phoenix Suns on Friday at US Airways Center in front of a sellout crowd of 18,422 did nothing to ease matters.

They stayed competitive for a while, even leading by as many as nine, before Phoenix blitzed them for a 12-2 run to open the second half, never again letting the Clippers within single figures.

“They came out aggressive in the third, I know that,” said Mobley, battling through a strained right groin. “And we didn’t make the plays we should have.”

Sam Cassell scored 18 of his 26 points in the first half and did not play in the fourth quarter.

Coach Mike Dunleavy said afterward he is looking to keep the veteran guard fresh for tonight’s game against the New Orleans Hornets, who are on a three-game losing streak.

“I just felt like I didn’t want to take any more of his legs,” Dunleavy said of Cassell. “I felt like if we could get it back down to single digits, I would have put him back in the game. I was kind of hoping to get there, but it didn’t happen.”

Cassell, who played only in the second half of their victory over the Denver Nuggets on Wednesday while feeling ill, said he did not ask to be rested but is prepared for extended minutes tonight.

“I don’t dictate playing time around here,” he said. “The only thing I dictate is what I do on the court.”

A game after the Clippers limited the Nuggets to three fastbreak points, the Suns scored 22 and finished with twice that number of points in the paint.

Amare Stoudemire scored a game-high 29 points and took 11 rebounds, and Steve Nash had 20 points and 10 assists for the Suns, who matched their best start to a season with their 11-2 record.

“I was ready to go from the jump ball,” Stoudemire said. “A couple easy baskets definitely got me going, and I’m sure it gets other guys going as well. As a team, we have guys that can score so quickly and so easily, and we have no problems with letting guys stay hot.”

The Suns, sitting atop the Western Conference in their familiar perch, are collectively hot-riding an NBA-best eight-game winning streak.

Chris Kaman piled together his eighth double-double with 17 points and 14 rebounds, although he did so on six-for-18 shooting. Dunleavy said Kaman’s 20 minutes played in the first half were too many and he probably tired down the stretch.

“In the second half, they just changed everything up on us defensively and came to double right off the ball or they mixed it up,” said Kaman, his lip bloodied from taking a hit early in the game. “It was kind of random, and I couldn’t get a feel for it.”

The Clippers played their third game without leading scorer Corey Maggette, out because of a strained right hamstring, and their first without point guard Brevin Knight, who sustained a strained right groin during the game Wednesday.

Mobley, Quinton Ross and Al Thornton are all playing through mild injuries.

Those three combined for 13 points against the Suns.

“I would have liked to have inserted Maggette’s 20 points in there somewhere, truth be known,” Dunleavy said. “But you’ve gotta do what you gotta do.”

Cassell said the team would quickly move on.

“That’s the great thing about the NBA,” he said. “There is always tomorrow night.”

--

jonathan.abrams@latimes.com