SUNS 117, CLIPPERS 115
Suns stun Clippers on guard’s shot at buzzer, move to 3-0 in restart
Five. Four.
Three. Two.
One.
Devin Booker delivers at the buzzer.
The Suns followed up an improbable win over Dallas to shock the Los Angeles Clippers 117-115 Tuesday on Booker’s game winner as time expired at ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex’s The Arena.
Spinning away from Kawhi Leonard, one of the game’s top perimeter defenders, after a pump fake, Booker rose up and hit a fading shot highly contested by Paul George with no time remaining.
Laying on his back, Booker was mobbed by his teammates in celebration.
Now 3-0 in restart “seeding” games, Phoenix (2939) matched its longest winning streak of the season as Booker scored a game-high 35 points, hitting 6-of-9 from 3.
Booker may not have gotten a final shot had the Clippers not been careless with the ball at the end.
With the game tied at 115, Ricky Rubio missed a tough shot that Ivica Zubac rebounded, but he turned the ball over attempting an outlet.
Mikal Bridges came up with the steal that ultimately led to Booker’s heroics as he got the clear out before hitting the game-winning shot.
Outside of Booker’s clutch play, Phoenix won the 3-point battle in pulling off the upset.
The Suns came into the game shooting 35.3% from 3 in their first two restart games.
On Tuesday, they shot 17-of-32 on their 3-pointers.
The Clippers, who hit 25 shots from deep in their win Saturday over New Orleans, went just 8-of-29 on 3s Tuesday.
Phoenix led by as many as 11 in the third quarter before Los Angeles tied the game at 80-80, but the Suns responded with a quick 5-0 spurt, capped by a Booker 3.
The Suns went into the fourth quarter with a 95-91 lead.
The Clippers (45-22) are now 1-2 in the restart games as Leonard scored a team-high 27 points while George added 23.
Up next
The Suns will play Indiana at 1 p.m. on Thursday at Visa Athletic Center.
The Pacers won their opening two games as former Suns forward T.J. Warren scored a career-high 53 points in their opener over Philadelphia.
Phoenix is 0-1 against Indiana this season.
What’s the playoff situation
The Suns have passed Sacramento in the race for the eighth and final playoff race. They are three games behind Memphis, which has the eighth spot, but will be without Jaren Jackson Jr., who has suffered a meniscus tear and will miss the rest of the season.
Three teams remain ahead of the Suns in Portland, which faced Houston late Tuesday night, San Antonio and New Orleans. Phoenix is just a half game behind the Pelicans and a game behind the Spurs and Blazers.
The Suns’ best chance to make the playoffs going into the restart was to get the ninth seed and be within four games of the eighth-place team to force a playin tournament and then win the play-in against the eighth-place team.
They still need help, but certainly are helping improve their chances to not only get that ninth-place spot and be within four games of the eighthplace team, but possibly grab the eighth seed and have a better chance to win a possible play-in.
Player of the game: Devin Booker
“Book was Book.”
Monty Williams often say this, but he almost stopped Booker from being Booker.
After the game, Williams said he thought about calling a timeout when Phoenix regained possession after Zubac’s turnover with eight seconds left, but he let his All-Star do what he does. Score.
“I trusted him and his ability to make the pass or the shot,” Williams said. “Tonight, he made shot after shot and the last one was pretty cool to watch.”
Booker shot 13-of-25 from the field. He missed some in close early, got called for a flagrant foul for pushing Zubac in the back on a bucket and later knocked knees with the Clippers big man and went down.
While he had rough moments, Booker was in full rhythm with the jump shot as evidence of his 6-of-9 shooting from 3. So when it came to that final shot, he was able to fight off George hitting his forearm and wrist to score.
Booker also wasn’t passing the ball. Rubio was wide open on the wing.
Looked like his idol, the late great Kobe Bryant on that one.