EXTRA WORK NEEDED CLIPPERS, SUNS GO INTO DOUBLE OVERTIME IN WEST SEMIS.

Byline: Joe Stevens Staff Writer

PHOENIX - The Clippers fell down 19 points Tuesday night. They scraped their way back in it.

And in it. And ...

Through regulation and then overtime, and on to a second OT. There was was little to separate the Clippers and Phoenix Suns, who were tied at 111-111 through 53 minutes in Game 5 at US Airways Center when this edition of the Daily News went to press.

With long-time Lakers fan Jack Nicholson in attendance with Clippers die-hard and Hollywood producer James Brooks, the Clippers looked far from a marquee team when Phoenix went up 19 points midway through the third quarter.

But heading into the fourth quarter, the Clippers were down 84-78 - a huge feat considering Phoenix's 78-59 lead with 6:29 left in the quarter. The Suns used an 11-0 run to help build that lead, but the Clippers responded with a 13-0 run to pull to 78-72 with 2:13 left.

Sam Cassell was absolutely key to the run. He scored the Clippers' final 10points of the third quarter.

One statistic that underscores the importance of Game 5 is that 84 percent of NBA teams who have won that fifth game when tied 2-2 have gone on to win the series. An ominous statistic for the Clippers is that the in their franchise history, the Suns have never lost a series in which they were up 2-2 and had home-court edge.

The Clippers trailed 58-52 at halftime, after a first half of 16 lead changes. The Clippers led by seven points early in the second quarter, but watched Phoenix go up 54-45 with 3:26 left.

Some of the benchmarks of the series prevailed in the first half, including two of the biggest ones - 3-point shooting and rebounding. The Suns shot 5 of 10 from 3-point range.

The Clippers, buoyed by a start from Chris Kaman, continued to be dominant on the boards with a 30-17 rebounding edge and 19-4 advantage with second-chance points in the first half. The rebounding helped make up for a poor shooting half, in which the Clippers shot just 38.3 percent to Phoenix's 50 percent.

Kaman, who was 4 of 7, was the only Clipper starter to shoot 50 percent or higher in the first half as he had nine points and nine rebounds. Cassell was off the most, going 1 of 6. Corey Maggette tried to take advantage of a mismatch with Steve Nash guarding him, but he went 2 of 8.

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CAPTION(S):

3 photos, 4 boxes

Photo:

(1 -- color) The Clippers' Elton Brand grabs a rebound over the Suns' Raja Bell on Tuesday at US Airways Center in Phoenix.

(2) The Clippers' Corey Maggette shoots over Phoenix's Boris Diaw during Game 5 of the Western Conference semifinals Tuesday.

(3) Jack Nicholson

Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer

Box:

(1) STORY LINES

(2) WESTERN CONFERENCE SEMIFINALS, BEST-OF-7 PHOENIX LEADS, 2-1

(3) QUARTER BY QUARTER

(4) THEY SAID IT