Final
Brown, Suns rally to beat Clippers
Mar 16, 2012 - 5:57 AM Los Angeles, CA (Sports Network) - Shannon Brown's season-high 21 points included a late fourth-quarter trey for Phoenix's first lead since the opening period, the go-ahead free-throws, and another pair of freebies to put the game out of reach as the Suns stunned the Clippers, 91-87, on Thursday."It was a team win. I just want to come out and help the team," Brown said.
Channing Frye finished with 12 points, Jared Dudley added 11 and Markieff Morris donated 10 in the win. All three contributed six rebounds for Phoenix, which has won seven of its last nine.
The Suns scored 27 points in the fourth while holding Los Angeles to 12 as they battled back from a 17-point deficit.
Blake Griffin paced all scorers with 25 points and Caron Butler netted 14 for the Clippers, who have dropped four of their last five games at Staples Center.
Earlier Thursday, Los Angeles acquired guard Nick Young from the Wizards for forward Brian Cook and a future second-round draft pick in a three-team trade that also involved the Denver Nuggets.
Grant Hill and Steve Nash did not play for Phoenix, which continued its second and final back-to-back-to-back series of the season.
"A great win for us. It was satisfying to win without Steve or Grant," said Suns head coach Alvin Gentry. "Shannon Brown did a great job for us. We kept plugging away. We did a good job executing at the end."
The Suns entered the final stanza down 75-64 after LA scored five unanswered to end the third. They began challenging when the Clippers went up by 12, with Lopez's reserve dunk starting the action.
Michael Redd followed with a driving dunk from Morris, Duddley drained two from the charity stripe, and Price drove for two layups, the second following his interception of a pass from Mo Williams.
The 10-0 flurry made it 78-76.
Williams netted a trey to stop the bleeding, but Morris immediately responded with his own trey. Los Angeles held Phoenix at bay for almost two minutes before Brown posted up in the right corner and, accepting a pass from Sebastian Telfair, swished a three-pointer for an 87-85 Suns edge with 2:25 to play.
The Clippers would not lead after that point, as Brown matched DeAndre Jordan's game-tying pair of free throws with his own two and finished the scoring with another couple with 6.3 seconds remaining.
"I was not pleased with our effort from start to finish. They outworked us," said Clippers head coach Vinny Del Negro. "We kept them in it. They made a run at the end and stole the game."
Los Angeles shot 50 percent from the field in the first half and held Phoenix to 32.6 percent to take a 47-39 lead into intermission.
Game Notes
Chris Paul had 10 points and 11 assists for the Clippers...Telfair and Griffin were issued technical fouls...Phoenix will look to sweep its back-to-back-to- back against Detroit on Friday. The Suns defeated Utah on Wednesday...Los Angeles continues a six-game homestand against Houston on Saturday. The Clippers fell to 1-3 during the stretch.
- PHOENIX: 91
LOS ANGELES: 87
Final
Mar 16 12:58 AM - PHOENIX: 64
LOS ANGELES: 75
End of 3rd
Mar 16 12:18 AM - PHOENIX: 39
LOS ANGELES: 47
Halftime
Mar 15 11:34 PM - PHOENIX: 17
LOS ANGELES: 29
End of 1st
Mar 15 11:06 PM - PHOENIX: 0
LOS ANGELES: 0
1st Quarter - 12:00
Mar 15 10:42 PM
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