Dunleavy says team has a lot of work ahead

The Clippers stamped Thursday’s exhibition against the Phoenix Suns as an indicator of where they stood midway through the preseason schedule.

As Coach Mike Dunleavy continues to jigsaw his regular-season rotation into place, what he said before the game rang true afterward -- that the Clippers aren’t where they need to be when they open the season Nov. 2 against the Golden State Warriors.

“With Phoenix, the floodgates open when you make mistakes defensively and you leave guys wide open in the corner,” Dunleavy said. “They have the ability to bang down those three-point shots. When you start falling behind to a team like that, we started pressing a little bit.”

Basketball lingo from a cerebral coach. Sam Cassell put the game and its result in his own context.

“Phoenix is a team where you have to take something away,” he said. “If you don’t take anything away, they are going to kick your [butt]. We gave them layups, jumpers, everything.”

In winning, 118-97, Phoenix scored 24 fastbreak points on Thursday to the Clippers’ nine. The Suns also made 13 three-point baskets; the Clippers made only three.

And although the favorite saying around the NBA this time of year is “It’s the preseason,” the Suns’ performance does reinforce what is already known -- Phoenix will again be a contender this season.

When it looked as if they couldn’t get much better, the Suns added Grant Hill during the off-season.

Hill scored 21 points in 24 minutes on Thursday, mostly on layups and short jump shots, and once again appears injury-free.

Suns Coach Mike D’Antoni said Hill probably would average about 30 minutes a game.

“He is a luxury,” Cassell said. “He’ll give them something they didn’t have last year in a true small forward and somebody that can also play shooting guard. He is a smart, smart player who does everything smooth for them.”

Test No. 2 comes today against Phoenix at 4:30 in the first game of the Lakers’ shootout at Staples Center. Cuttino Mobley, bothered by a strained left calf, probably will make his exhibition debut. The Clippers will face the Lakers or Charlotte Bobcats on Sunday.

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All season long, guard Brevin Knight will be going against his wife, Deena, to see who can collect more assists. Brevin will earn his numbers on the court. Deena is asking for people to send in stories of how they assisted someone in the community through the Knights’ foundation at assistbyknight.org.

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jonathan.abrams@latimes.com