Clippers beat the Suns to end six-game losing streak

Austin Rivers was in no mood for introspection Monday night. The Clippers were mired in a six-game losing streak entering a game against the Phoenix Suns, their longest since a nine-game skid in November 2010, an ugly stretch that had the guard focusing more on the future than the past.

“We’re a great team, we know that — we went through a tough stretch, so what?” Rivers said. “Let’s get through it, learn from it, get better. We don’t need to be heavy thinkers, overthink things, walk around depressed ... We just have to get through it. We lost six in a row; I’m over that. ... Let’s fix it.”

An uneven 109-98 victory over the lowly Suns in Staples Center would hardly classify as a “fix.” The Clippers let a 19-point late-third-quarter lead dwindle to six points with 1 minute 15 seconds left before Phoenix succumbed to a series of turnovers and missed baskets.

The Clippers turned the ball over 20 times, leading to 23 Phoenix points, and they continued to have problems in transition, getting outscored, 28-9, on fastbreak points. For those scoring at home, the Clippers have been outscored, 159-50, on fastbreak points over the last seven games.

But considering the Clippers were able to end their longest skid in more than six years without the injured Blake Griffin and Chris Paul, they will gladly take it.

“I think just winning is always better than losing,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “I know that’s deep, but I learned that at an early age. There are things we can do better. We know that. But it’s just nice to get a win. It makes you feel better.”

J.J. Redick, who has been bothered by a sore left hamstring, led the Clippers with 22 points on nine-for-14 shooting, and Jamal Crawford had 18 points, seven rebounds and five assists, bouncing back from a three-game slump in which he scored 12 points on five-for-29 shooting. Guard Raymond Felton had 16 points.

T.J. Warren had 24 points, and Eric Bledsoe had 22 points for the Suns, who went on a 20-8 fourth-quarter run to trim the Clippers lead to 104-98 on Bledsoe’s two free throws with 1:15 left.

DeAndre Jordan, who had 20 rebounds, missed two free throws with 1:06 left, giving the Suns an opportunity to cut into the lead, but Jordan blocked a Bledsoe drive on the other end, Devin Booker airballed a three-point shot, and Redick scored an easy layup and made a free throw for a 107-98 lead with 20.6 seconds left.

“There are certain points of the season, players go through it, teams go through it, where you’re stuck in a rut and nothing is going right,” Redick said. “You just have to keep grinding and eventually it’ll turn.”

The Clippers took control of the game with a 14-0 third-quarter run, sparked by Luc Mbah a Moute’s three-pointer and capped by Jordan’s follow slam of a Felton miss for an 89-70 lead at the 1:50 mark. Included in the run was Crawford’s one-hand floater from just inside the free-throw line.

The Clippers led, 64-58, at halftime on the strength of Redick’s 14 points, Crawford’s 10 points, nine each from Rivers and Marreese Speights, and eight from blue-shoes-wearing reserve Brandon Bass.

But Phoenix had a 17-7 advantage in second-chance points and a 14-5 edge in fastbreak points.

The game wasn’t three minutes old when Doc Rivers leaped off the bench in disgust and called a timeout after Austin Rivers turned the ball over to Bledsoe, whose long pass downcourt resulted in an easy basket by T.J. Warren and a 4-4 tie.

“Play harder,” the coach said, when asked what his message was to his team during the timeout. “Play with more urgency. One thing Phoenix does a great job of is pressuring you, and they blew up our first three plays.”

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Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna