Phoenix's bench buries Clippers as the same old problem shows up again

Whatever good feeling the Clippers carried out of Sunday's win over New Orleans was gone by the end of the first quarter in Phoenix, where the Suns closed the period on a 13-0 run and cruised to a 133-110 win at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Phoenix made 22 of 43 attempts from 3-point range, a season high, and got 81 points from a bench that had five players finish in double figures. The Clippers fell to 2-8 overall and 0-5 on the road, with eight losses in their last nine games.

Jordan Goodwin did most of the early damage in his first game back from a calf injury, making six of his seven 3-point tries for 18 points in 14 minutes. Devin Booker added 17 points and five assists for a Suns team that lost by 26 to San Antonio the night before.

The Game Got Away Early

The Clippers held a brief lead late in the first quarter, going up 18-16 before the Phoenix second unit took the game over with the 13-0 run that ended the period.

Goodwin had 15 points by halftime, Luke Kennard hit a pair of 3-pointers off the bench and Collin Gillespie hit a 39-footer at the buzzer that sent Phoenix to the locker room up 64-47. The Suns made 11 of their 22 attempts from deep in the first half, a pace the Clippers had no answer for on either end.

The third quarter went even worse for Los Angeles, with the Suns stretching the lead to 91-59 and taking a 99-72 edge into the fourth. Phoenix sat all five starters for the final period, so the 38-34 fourth quarter the Clippers won against an all-reserve group did little beyond trimming the final margin.

Mark J. Rebilas-Imagn Images

Nov 10, 2026; Phoenix, Arizona, USA; Los Angeles Clippers guard Darius Garland (10) passes the ball against Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker (15) in the second half at Mortgage Matchup Center.

Who Showed Up for the Clippers

Darius Garland finished with 13 points, six assists and five rebounds, though he shot 5-of-12 from the field and turned it over four times two nights after his 24-point, 10-assist game against the Pelicans. Rui Hachimura also scored 13 points and made three of his five 3-point attempts.

Rookie Baba Miller scored 13 points off the bench, Max Strus added 12, Derrick Jones Jr. and Keaton Wagler each had 11 and Gradey Dick chipped in 10, giving the Clippers seven players in double figures on a night when none of them could slow Phoenix down, while Kobe Sanders handed out seven assists as a reserve.

The Clippers shot 42 percent from the field and made just one of their 11 shots from midrange, while the Suns piled up 24 second-chance points to 15 for Los Angeles.

Where I Think This Team Stands

I came into Tuesday thinking Sunday's win could be a starting point, since the Clippers moved the ball well against New Orleans and finally looked like a group that trusted each other on offense. 

This game showed how thin the margin is for this roster right now, because a road trip to face a Suns team coming off a blowout loss turned into a blowout of its own before halftime.

Injuries explain a good chunk of the slide, with Bradley Beal out with a right knee injury, Brandon Ingram still sidelined with a heel problem and Jordan Miller and Yanic Konan Niederhäuser also out, which leaves Ty Lue leaning on young guards like Wagler and Sanders and a rookie like Baba Miller for real minutes. 

Lue said before Sunday's game that Ingram is getting close to a return, and a scorer of his level would take a lot of pressure off Garland and the young guards around him.

Defense worries me even more than the injuries, because Phoenix shot 51 percent from three and 56 percent overall against them, and a team with this little room for error on offense can't hand an opponent 22 3-pointers and expect to win on the road, where the Clippers still haven't won this season.

The schedule doesn't offer much relief either, with the Clippers returning home to host the Oklahoma City Thunder in an NBA Cup game on Friday at 7:30 p.m. at Intuit Dome.