CASSELL IS GOOD AS ADVERTISED.

Byline: STEVE DILBECK

He's truth in advertising, even if sometimes seeming in charge of the promotion.

Sam Cassell talks a good game. Talks it better than anyone in the NBA.

The thing is, he backs it up. He delivers. UPS should be this reliable. Fast food so dependable.

When things are getting rough, the game on the line, palms sweaty, hearts pounding, Cassell's pulse seems to lower. Where others fear panic, he embraces opportunity.

Cool as a rock star, fearless as a skydiver.

The Clippers desperately needed someone like this last season, when a talented young core constantly wilted in the clutch. Close games kept slipping away. The team needed a calm veteran, a player who welcomed the game's big moments.

They got Sam Cassell, although not as easily as hoped.

The trade to the Timberwolves went well simply enough, but Cassell didn't warm to the thought of joining a Clippers team that went to the postseason about as often as a solar eclipse.

``I got traded here and really didn't want to be a part of this whole makeup,'' Cassell said. ``I wasn't sure if the Clippers organization wanted to win. I didn't know.''

He knew the Clippers returned a solid nucleus with Elton Brand, Corey Maggette and Chris Kaman, and had just signed free agent Cuttino Mobley. A meeting with coach Mike Dunleavy, explaining his role, explaining the Clippers' need for a clutch performer convinced him to make the move.

``When training camp came, I saw the pieces we had -- with Shaun Livingston coming up, Quinton Ross,'' Cassell said. ``We had a lot of guys who understood their role on this ballclub.

``I said, `OK, this can work.' I said in October we could be in the playoffs and (the media) said I was crazy.''

He also said, he would be there, ready and willing to take the last-second shots.

The playoffs did come, and Sunday evening, there was Cassell delivering as promised. Missing a triple-double by one assist. He scored 28 points, pulled down 11 rebounds and passed out nine assists.

He scored 10 consecutive Clippers' points during one stretch in the third quarter, turning a 7-point lead over Phoenix into a 12-point advantage.

When Cassell hit 3-pointer with 5:54 left, the Clippers led 106-93 and the crowd was rocking.

Only then the Clippers went a painful 5 minutes without scoring a point. The Suns climbed to within a single point before Brand connected on 12-foot jumper.

When Tim Thomas missed a 3-pointer, it was Cassell who took the rebound. With the shot clock winding down, Cassell looked for Brand again, but Thomas had pushed him out near the 3-point arc.

Cassell, guarded again for most the night by the 6-7 Shawn Marion, stepped back, cool as could be, and drilled a 3-pointer with 27.2 seconds left.

Like he did it every day.

``That's something where you got it or you don't,'' Livingston said.

``He's pulled it out like that (before). He's proven and it's just another example of the reason he's here.''

Fast-talking Sam Cassell delivered again. Final score: Clippers 114, Suns 107. Series tied 2-2.

``I really enjoy the situations when it's tight, because everyone is scared to make a mistake,'' he said.

Cassell said he developed his cool under pressure routine his rookie season with Houston, when the Rockets would start Kenny Smith at the point but typically call on him to finish games.

``My job was to get the ball across court and make a play,'' Cassell said. ``Not just bringing it up, give it to Clyde (Drexler) or Dream (Hakeem Olajuwon) and getting out of the way.

``Those guys put a lot of pressure on me just making plays. I couldn't use the `I'm a rookie.' I couldn't use that by January, February.

``That's how I gained the comfort zone.''

A while the Rockets won consecutive NBA titles.

Cassell struggled in the Clippers 94-91 loss Friday in Game 3. Guarded for the first time largely by Marion, he was just 2-for-10 from the field, with four assists.

``I played right into Shawn Marion's hands,'' he said. ``I wasn't aggressive.

``I relied on my 3-point shot. That was my offense and I was 0 for 4. This game I just came out aggressive. I want to keep my shots to 15, 16 feet and I did that.''

There was also nearly a 10-minute stretch in the fourth quarter of Game 3 when Dunleavy kept the veteran on the bench.

Dunleavy told reporters he had no regrets, but Cassell played all but 12 seconds of the final 7 minutes in the fourth quarter Sunday.

And had the ball with the game on the line. And delivered one more time, as promised.

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Photo:

Clippers guard Sam Cassell reacts after making a 3-pointer in the final minute against Phoenix.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer