Chris Paul/Photo courtesy of Los Angeles Clippers, NBA.com

Chris Paul seemed to have a firm grasp of the obvious following his team’s surprisingly difficult 110-103 victory Monday night over the lowly Denver Nuggets at Staples Center. He talked about a timeout his team took when it trailed by six points with 5:43 to play in the game.

“It was 96-90 and Doc (Rivers) called a timeout, and we just kept talking, ‘We are going to win the game,’ ” Paul said. “I think it just shows what we are capable of when we focus, lock in and stick to our principles. In the playoffs, it is not going to be that easy to turn it on and turn it off, so it is always good to win and learn at the same time.”

The Clippers (55-26) finish the regular season tonight (Tuesday) at Phoenix. They know they will have the homecourt advantage in the first round of the playoffs, but they still don’t know their opponent.