Five takeaways from the Clippers’ 109-98 win over the Phoenix Suns

The Clippers, playing without their two top scorers — Blake Griffin and Chris Paul — snapped a six-game losing streak, their longest since a nine-game skid in November 2010. Here are five things we learned from their 109-98 win over the Phoenix Suns on Monday night:

1. The Clippers defense improved dramatically over the previous six games, when they allowed an average of 110.5 points a game. Phoenix scored only 40 points in the second half and shot 38.2% (39 of 102) from the field and 13.3% (two for 15) from three-point range in the game. Center DeAndre Jordan pulled down 20 of the Clippers’ 51 rebounds and had three of his team’s 11 blocked shots.

“They had a lot of transition buckets off our turnovers in the first half, and then, in the second half, we had unbelievable half-court defense,” Clippers guard J.J. Redick said. “It reminded me of earlier in the season when we were just flying around, covering for each other. Our rotations were phenomenal tonight, as good as they’ve been in a couple of weeks.”

2. Guards Austin Rivers, Jamal Crawford and Raymond Felton took a more aggressive posture, attacking the basket with ferocity and kicking the ball out to shooters such as Redick, who scored a team-high 22 points on nine of 14 shots. The approach forced some turnovers — the Clippers had 20 in the game, leading to 23 Suns points — but it was effective.

“I just told them, keep attacking the basket,” Coach Doc Rivers said. “We told them to get to the basket and create havoc, and if the defense pulled in, throw it out from there. I thought that’s why J.J. got shots today, because Jamal, Austin and Raymond were attacking the basket.”

3. In their losses to New Orleans, Houston and Oklahoma City on the last trip, the Clippers shot 55 free throws, compared to their opponents’ 99. They turned the tables Monday night, shooting 16 more free throws than the Suns. The Clippers were 28 of 38 from the line; Phoenix was 18 of 22.

“That was huge,” Doc Rivers said. “In the last three games, the other teams have been shooting more free throws than us. That was part of our attack message, that we had to get the line. We have to get the ball up the floor. I thought that might have been the key to the game.”

4. Crawford is much more effective when he is attacking the basket instead of floating around the perimeter. After scoring 12 points on five-of-29 shooting in the previous three games, Crawford scored 18 points, several on aggressive drives to the basket, pulled down seven rebounds and had five assists Monday night.

“I was a little disappointed in myself in the last three games,” Crawford said. “I feel like when I’m aggressive, it adds another dimension. I’m gonna attack, and even if I’m missing shots, I’m gonna give my team confidence. I just wanted to win so was in attack mode a little more.”

5. Brandon Bass, a 6-foot-8, 250-pound forward, is beginning to assert himself in Griffin’s absence. After hitting season highs for points (18) and rebounds (six) in the loss to Oklahoma City on Saturday night, Bass, sporting bright blue high-tops, entered Monday night’s game with 5 minutes, 42 seconds left in the first quarter.

Bass hit a 13-foot turn-around jump shot from the left side at the 3:33 mark, a driving bank shot off a nice Crawford pass at the 2:43 mark and a two-handed slam dunk from another Crawford assist with a minute left in the quarter. He finished with 10 points in 14 minutes.

“He’s been terrific, wonderful, just a great teammate,” Doc Rivers said. “That’s the type of guy you want on your team. He wasn’t playing early on, and he still practiced like he was gonna play 40 minutes the next night. He kind of waited his turn, and now that he’s playing, you see the benefit.”

mike.digiovanna@latimes.com

Twitter: @MikeDiGiovanna