CLIPS SPREAD THE WEALTH IN WIN CLIPPERS 114, PHOENIX 108.

Byline: JOE STEVENS Staff Writer

One thing the Clippers hope about the roster they have assembled is that their offense can come from a lot of different sources.

That diversity played out as they hoped it might Saturday night as Corey Maggette and Sam Cassell each scored 23 points to lead six Clippers in double figures in a 114-108 victory over the Phoenix Suns at Staples Center.

Before the game, coach Mike Dunleavy expressed concern about the team's first two games and said, ``There's been a lot of lapses. We're not sharp right now.''

The Clippers had a slick second quarter and held on to beat the Suns, but Dunleavy's words rung true.

Although the Clippers held a two-possession lead or more down the stretch, Cassell helped seal the victory with 38.9 seconds left when he made to free throws to put the Clippers up 109-102.

The Suns never had a possession to tie it in the final six minutes

Cassell's free throws were practically an aberration for a shaky free- throw shooting night. The Clippers shot 68.9 percent (31 of 45) from the line, while they usually shoot better than 80 percent.

Cuttino Mobley added 18 and had a team-high 40 minutes, and Elton Brand had 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Other than Mobley's minutes, the minutes and scoring were relatively well-distributed.

Maggette also had 12 rebounds and did his damage as a reserve and in just 30 minutes.

As usual, two-time reigning MVP Steve Nash gave the Clippers fits. He finished with 28points and 13 assists, but the Suns had poor shooting stretches and shot 44 percent for the game, to the Clippers' 47.1 percent.

Shawn Marion also had a strong game, going 11 of 19 for 25 points and 15 rebounds.

After outscoring the Suns by 19 in the second quarter, the Clippers were outscored 39-24 in the third to trail 82-80 heading into the fourth quarter.

The Clippers had been clipping along, going up 61-45 two minutes into the third quarter. But then Phoenix sped up the tempo and rattled off lengthy runs to finally take the lead on a layup by Nash with 1.3 seconds left in the third quarter.

Dunleavy has been skeptical about his team's progress.

``We haven't been in synch,'' he said Saturday. ``Coming out of camp, coming into the season, I knew we would have a rough stretch of play. And we're hoping to battle through it, while we're getting some guys in shape and win some games why we're doing it.''

In particular, Chris Kaman, Cassell and Tim Thomas had abbreviated exhibition seasons, and getting them up to speed may take some time, even though Cassell and Thomas have had superb stretches.

After a mediocre first quarter, the Clippers answered some of Dunleavy's concerns and came out with their best quarter of the season.

They pounced on the Suns to go up 56-43 at halftime. They outscored Phoenix 36-17 in the quarter and got 16 points in the period from Maggette.

The Clippers also accentuated their size advantage by out-rebounding the Suns 33-23 in the first half.

Free throws were another statistic with a big discrepancy as the Clippers shot 23 free throws to the Suns' mere eight. But the Clippers uncharacteristically struggled from the line, going 14 of 23 (60.9 percent) in the half.

As Amare Stoudemire tries to adjust to being injury-free for the Suns, he practically had a nonexistent first half in which he scored just two points and had only one rebound in 10 minutes.

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Phoenix's Shawn Marion, right, shoots over the Clippers' Elton Brand. Brand finished with 15 points and 10 rebounds.

Jae C. Hong/Associated Press