INGLEWOOD — Playing an opponent twice in eight days has its benefits. The teams know each other’s tendencies and remember what schemes they like to run.

So, when the Clippers hosted the Phoenix Suns for a second time in five games on Thursday, recalling what happened before wasn’t an issue.

“There’s not any real advantage playing against three Hall of Famers, but we know what they are running,” Clippers coach Tyronne Lue said. “We know how they tried to attack us last game. We know how we need to play, how to attack them.”

That memory muscle didn’t save the Clippers, who blew an 18-point halftime lead and lost to the Suns 125-119 at the Intuit Dome.

This game didn’t resemble the opening night contest in which the Suns won in overtime. In that game, the Clippers watched helplessly as hot-shooting Phoenix made all 10 of its foul shots in the extra period. But it was a harbinger of things to come as the Clippers’ next two games came down to the final minute.

Nothing changed this time. After leading by as many as 19 points in the first half, the Clippers again were scrambling for an advantage in the waning moments, an edge that never materialized.

The Suns pulled ahead by what looked to be an insurmountable eight-point lead, 115-107, on a floater by Royce O’Neale.

James Harden trimmed the lead to six with 1:58 left in the game and added a pair of free throws at the 1:25 mark to pull the Clippers within 115-111. The six-time All-Star guard made one of two foul shots before O’Neale buried a corner 3-pointer to give the Suns an 118-112 lead with 44 seconds remaining.

The Clippers couldn’t mount any sort of comeback as the clock ran out, leaving them without a victory at their new arena.

“We just have to have our focus,” Lue said before the game. “I think we had some breakdowns defensively last game, and offensively as well. I think we just have to finish the game. Just learn from our mistakes going down the stretch. We just gotta be better.”

The Clippers did none of those things down the stretch. Every time the Clippers pushed ahead, the Suns pushed back.

Kevin Durant, who said fans in The Wall section affected him in the previous game, showed more poise the second time, scoring 18 points on 7-of-13 shooting. Devin Booker was seemingly unflappable, scoring a game-high 40 points on 11-of-18 shooting with eight assists.

Harden finished with 25 points, 10 rebounds and 13 assists, his fourth triple-double as a Clipper and the fourth-most in franchise history. He also notched his fourth consecutive game with a points/assists double-double, the longest streak by a Clippers player since Chris Paul in 2017.

Ivica Zubac posted another double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Norman Powell had 23 points.