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By Jackie WagerWeb

US Airways Center

The LA Clippers looked yesterday more like the playoff team they should be. Last week against Dallas in a 119-105 game that left a good taste of mouth in Clippers fans.

Elton Brand had 34 points and 15 rebounds and the Clippers climbed 14 games above .500 for the first time since the 1974-75 season, when the franchise was in Buffalo. Corey Maggette added 23 points and 10 rebounds for the Clippers, who are five games behind the first-place Suns with eight to play.

This victory gives them hopes to try and reach the Suns who are only 5 games ahead, but it’s very improbable because the Suns would have to loss five games. The Clippers could win five or more, there’s still a slight chance for that to happen, but it’s going to be very small.

"We could have closed things out, and we didn't do it. We let it get away. Our defense was not good. There was a lack of focus and energy. I didn't expect this... it's kind of like a kick to the extremities. This is not good." -- Suns coach Mike D'Antoni.

Starters -- Point Guard Steve Nash, Shooting Guard Raja Bell, Small Forward James Jones, Power Forward Shawn Marion, Center Boris Diaw; Bench -- Guard Leandro Barbosa, Forward Tim Thomas, Guard Eddie House.

Impressive basketball is what the Mavs are playing; even with the playoffs clinched this team keeps playing at full throttle. That’s because they’re only at two games from the Spurs for the division, and if they manage to win it they’ll have home court advantage in the first round of the playoffs; which is a very good thing in a conference so competitive like the one they’re in.

On the last game versus Sacramento they score 127 points to 101 from the Kings. That’s a huge amount of points considering the level of the opposing team. They’ve been playing like this in last stretch before the playoffs; you can really tell they want the conference title.

Even with a 3 game losing streak the Mavs mange to get back on their feet and close the season the way they’re doing it right now; "No, I don't think so. It was just a bump in the road for us. Every team goes through this at some point in the season. We've got that behind us now." -- Erick Dampier, on whether the team lost any confidence from the three-game losing streak.

Starters -- Point Guard Jason Terry, Shooting Guard Jerry Stackhouse, Small Forward Josh Howard, Power Forward Dirk Noritz, Center DeSagana Diop; Bench -- Center Erick Dampier, Guard Darrell Armstrong, Guard Devin Harris, Guard Marquis Daniels, Forward Rawle Marshall, Center DJ Mbenga, Forward Josh Powell, Forward Josh Powell, Forward Keith Van Horn.

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