So It’s No. 1 Suns, So What? Clippers Win Again, 112-108 : Pro basketball: L.A. is impressive against the team with the NBA’s best record.

Confounding. Confusing. Contradictory.

Clippers.

Once struggling against the bottom of the league, their climb against the elite reached the top Tuesday night at the Sports Arena with a 112-108 victory over the Phoenix Suns, the NBA’s winningest team.

Before a capacity crowd of 15,989, the Clippers became the first team in the league to beat the Suns twice. Both victories have come in Los Angeles, and the Nov. 7 loss at Phoenix was by six points.

“Thank God we’ve got an easy game Thursday,” Coach Larry Brown said.

The Chicago Bulls come in Thursday.

Brown’s sarcasm is well-earned. The Clippers have won four of five, beating Seattle, Utah and Cleveland in the process. The loss during that stretch was Saturday against the Jazz, when the Clippers came from 17 points down in the second quarter to trail by two in the fourth quarter before losing by eight.

“We played great,” Brown said. “I’m really proud of the team. We had good control of the game, they went on a 17-2 run, we got down by four, and we just didn’t fold. It was encouraging.

“We’re getting back to playing hard and playing together. It’s indicative of when we won 10 and lost three. We may have gotten away from that for a while because of a lot of distractions, but now, we’re just getting back to playing.”

The Suns (31-9) had a six-game winning streak snapped, but still fell into good news. Because of Portland’s loss to Minnesota, Phoenix clinched the best record in the Western Conference through the Feb. 7 deadline to earn the all-star coaching job for Paul Westphal. He becomes only the fifth rookie to do so.

The Clippers (23-20) outscored the league’s No. 1 offensive team, 27-21, in the fourth quarter to win. Their lead was only 107-105 with 51 seconds left before Danny Manning’s layup and two free throws from Mark Jackson, sandwiched around a missed three-pointer by Charles Barkley. That put the game at 111-105 with 22 seconds remaining.

Jackson barely missed his third triple-double of the season, getting 24 points on 10-of-12 shooting along with 11 rebounds and nine assists. Manning had a game-high 25 points.

The Clippers came in with a three-game home winning streak against the Suns, then led for most of the first half.

A flurry during the last 26 seconds of the first quarter resulted in six Clipper points, thanks to Randy Woods’ steal that set up Ken Norman’s layup and Stanley Roberts knocking a rebound out of the hands of Phoenix’s Richard Dumas and then passing to Norman for another layup.

That was good for a 36-28 lead. The Suns were within 42-41 when the Clippers surged again, with a 10-0 run. Two steals played a key role again, this time John Williams and Loy Vaught forcing the turnovers.

By halftime, the Clippers had a 66-57 advantage. The 66 points were three short of their best for a half this season. At the half, Gary Grant, sinking six of seven shots, and Norman, making six for eight, each had 13 points to pace the Clippers, who shot 54.7%. Roberts already had 12 points and six rebounds. Barkley had 13 points the first half, but took only eight shots.

Clipper Notes

The NBA inquiry into the confrontation between Clipper Coach Larry Brown and referee Ken Mauer during Saturday’s game at Utah is expected to conclude today, but it is clear Brown will not receive a suspension. Rod Thorn, the league’s vice president of operations, would not comment beyond that until receiving all reports. Thorn could fine Brown beyond the automatic $250 for an ejection. But Thorn seemed understanding that Brown might have been provoked by Mauer. Disciplinary action against officials are not announced, but Thorn said such actions are not uncommon.

Brown now calls the events an “unfortunate incident” and said “hopefully it’s history.” According to a confidential report obtained by the Chicago Sun-Times, Mauer was 34th among the league’s 51 referees rated. Two others were not graded because they missed most of 1991-92 with injury, and Darell Garretson was not rated because he is considered management as the supervisor of officials.

John Williams, after X-rays on his left knee, confirmed that the injury was simply a sprain. . . . Phoenix’s Cedric Ceballos, a Cal State Fullerton product, remains hospitalized for observation with what doctors say is a viral infection. He was admitted Monday with a 104-degree temperature and had cooled to 102 within a few hours, but continues to get intravenous feeding. He will be examined again today and may be released. . . . Jimmy Jackson, the Ohio State All-American who remains a holdout with the Dallas Mavericks, attended the game. That was enough to flame trade rumors, but his agent, Mark Termini, said Jackson just wanted to get away from the cold of Ohio for a few days. The Clippers say they didn’t know he was coming.