Smackdown will come before Game 7 showdown

The Suns catch a huge break with three full days off to rest their weary, overworked, playing rotation before Game 7 of the Western Conference semifinals Monday night.

For a team that went through 11 playoff games over the previous 22 days, a chance to recharge couldn’t have come at a better time. But why the long layoff?

Actually, the NBA lays out its playoff schedule months in advance — the teams were notified in late March, and Game 7 of both Western Conference semifinals were set for May 22.

But if the Clippers don’t want to blame David Stern, they can always blame “The Undertaker.”

That’s because US Airways Center is booked this weekend. The Arizona Rattlers have a playoff game against Las Vegas on Saturday night. And on Sunday afternoon — the more preferred date for TV — the arena belongs to World Wrestling Entertainment, which has one of its “Smackdown” extravaganzas — a pay-per-view, star-studded night for wrasslin’ fans everywhere, with “The Undertaker” among the superstars on the bill.

This smackdown has been dubbed “Judgement Day,” and the WWE folks might as well leave the posters and placards up when they leave. Monday will be judgement day for either the Clippers or Suns. One team will advance to the conference finals — the other will be calling the undertaker.

BEST OF THE REST

Conventional wisdom says that after six grueling games, both teams could use time off. But the Clippers have a younger team, deeper bench and had an entire week off between the first and second rounds before facing the Suns.

Meanwhile, several Phoenix players — Steve Nash and Tim Thomas in particular — clearly had their tanks near empty over the last week and get 72 hours to see if the bounce will return to their step.

“It’s easy for me, sitting on the bench, to say ‘Come on guys, let’s get it going,’ but we need a chance to recharge,” Suns coach Mike D’Antoni said. “We have time to rest and figure things out and it should help out a lot. I thought I saw a little jump from Steve (at the end of Game 6) and time off can only help that.”

The Suns’ two biggest liabilities in this series, defense and rebounding, are products of hustle and effort — elements that were again missing in Game 6 when the Suns were outrebounded 48-28 and allowed gaggles of easy dunks and layups.

“Most of the rebounding is intensity,” D’Antoni said. “Sometimes it’s luck, the way the ball bounces, but a lot of it is effort. If we give that effort, we’ll be fine.”

NOT PRESS-ING

Even with all their young players and a franchise history without any postseason success, the Clippers played calm and collected in Game 6, reflecting the confident, carefree attitude of veteran guard Sam Cassell.

Before the game, Cassell showed how loose he was by tiptoeing into Suns coach Mike D’Antoni’s media scrum about an hour before the game and using his hand to pretend he was holding a tape record.

“Just trying to pick up the game plan, coach,” Cassell said to D’Antoni. To his credit, the coach played right along, telling the media, “We’re going to leave Sam Cassell wide open most of the night.”

GAME TIME SET

With the Spurs beating the Mavericks Friday to force a Game 7 in their series, the Suns and Clippers will play at 7:30 p.m. Monday. Dallas and San Antonio tip off at 5 p.m.

BONUS SHOTS

It took all of five minutes for the 1,000 general public seats for Game 7 to be sold once they were available at noon Friday. Ticket manager John Walker said the rest of the seats were snapped up by season-ticket holders via the Internet. . . . The Suns will play in their ninth Game 7 all time and their second in the last 17 days. They are 3-5 in the previous eight deciding games, and 2-2 when the games are at home. . . . If the Suns win, they will reach the Western Conference finals for the eighth time overall and will advance in back-toback seasons for the first time since 1989 (when they lost to the Lakers) and 1990 (when they lost to Portland). . . . After reaching the 30-point plateau once in his first 43 career playoff games (last year in the second-round, seriesclinching win over Dallas), Shawn Marion has done it three of the last four games against the Clippers. He had 32 points and 19 rebounds in Game 3, 36 points and 20 rebounds in Game 5, and 34 points and nine rebounds in Game 6.