PHOENIX _ The Los Angeles Clippers defeated the Phoenix Suns 124-118 Thursday night at Talking Stick Resort Arena.
And that was the best thing that could have been said about the Clippers' uninspired effort against one of the NBA's worst teams.
The Clippers were a disjointed team all night long, essentially winning because they have a better than a Suns team that's bound for the lottery and has the third worst- record (22-54) in the NBA.
But don't count Blake Griffin, Chris Paul and Jamal Crawford as part of the lethargic Clippers.
They were the reason why L.A. won, and allowed the fifth-seeded Clippers to pull to within one game of the fourth-seeded Utah Jazz in the Western Conference.
Griffin had 31 points on 12-for-19 shooting, two-for-two on three-pointers. He also had seven rebounds.
Paul had 29 points and 10 assists and Crawford had 19 points off the bench.
"I said on the bench like in the third quarter, I think, it would be great to blow everybody out, blow every team out that's not making it to the playoffs," Griffin said. "But at the end of the day, that's not going to be the case all the time. And you have to be OK with that.
"You have to be OK grinding the game out. You have to be OK with making mistakes and correcting them and getting them right and winning a game down the stretch."
The Suns made it hard for the Clippers right up to the end, even going to the Hack-A-Jordan with two minutes, 26 seconds left.
DeAndre Jordan stepped to the free-throw line and made one of two free throws for a 119-114 Clippers lead.
Then Griffin and Paul closed the game out for the Clippers, who were playing the second of back-to-back games.
Griffin made one of two free throws before he nailed a 19-foot jumper for a 122-116 Clippers lead.
But when Paul made an 18-foot jumper with 48 seconds left for a 124-116 lead, the Clippers were finally safe from themselves and the Suns.
His team had trailed 35-31 after the first quarter and had let the Suns make 60 percent of their shots.
His team took a 67-59 lead at the end of the second quarter.
The Clippers even went up by 12 points in the third, but that lead was cut to 93-92 at the quarter.
That's the kind of night it was for the Clippers, who were out-scored in the paint 66-22 by the Suns.
There also was Devin Booker, who led six Suns in double figures, putting in work on the Clippers, giving them all they could handle until he fouled out four minutes, 45 seconds left.
Booker had 33 points on 13-for-22 shooting, four-for-seven on three-pointers.
"They fought hard. Devin was outstanding again," Paul said. "They hit a lot of tough shots and we just played in spurts. I don't know if it was a back-to-back or whatever it was. They fought hard, and we pulled it out."
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