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Suns’ Paul plans to return for Game 3
As if things couldn’t get any better for the Phoenix Suns.
They’ve won nine consecutive playoffs games to continue a franchise postseason record.
Their last win came on a Jae Crowder lob inbounds pass from the right corner of the baseline to Deandre Ayton, who finished it with two hands with 0.7 seconds to give the Suns a shocking 104-103 victory Tuesday at Phoenix Suns Arena and a 2-0 lead over the Los Angeles Clippers in the Western Conference finals.
And now their leader is on his way back.
All-Star veteran point guard Chris
Paul is listed as probable going into Thursday’s Game 3 in Los Angeles after missing Game 1 and Game 2 under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
With first-team All-NBA selection Kawhi Leonard ruled out for a fifth consecutive playoff game with a right knee sprain suffered in Game 4 of the conference semifinals against the top-seeded Jazz, the Clippers find themselves facing a team that’s not only playing the best basketball of anyone left in the playoffs, Phoenix is at full strength once again.
“We respond well in the trenches,” Clippers guard Patrick Beverley said as they’ve overcome 2-0 series deficits twice to advance in this year’s playoffs. “We’ll respond well. We always do.”
The fourth-seeded Clippers better or the second-seeded Suns may end their season in Saturday’s Game 4 at STAPLES Center. Phoenix has already found a way to win two close ones without their closer in Paul.
“The will of our guys to stay with it,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “I didn’t think we played great tonight, but we made enough plays to win the game.”
Before looking ahead to Game 3 of this best-of-7 series in Los Angeles, let’s flashback to one of the biggest wins in franchise history for the surging Suns.
Player of Tuesday’s Game 2 win: Deandre Ayton
This seems like a no-brainer, right, but it really isn’t.
As well as Ayton played in posting a double-double of 24 points and 14 rebounds — and making his first gamewinning basket on a two-handed lob finish over Ivica Zubac, he completed a play that doesn’t happen without Crowder’s pass.
That’s why Ayton opened up his press conference saying, “That’s definitely Jae’s game winner, making a great pass over a 7-footer.”
Granted DeMarcus Cousins can hardly jump now and came off the bench cold to just defend the pass, but Crowder put the ball in a spot only Ayton could get it.
Then there’s the screen by Devin Booker, who got a piece of Zubac to give Ayton a free path to the basket. Knowing Nicolas Batum wouldn’t leave him open, Booker essentially occupied two people to give the Suns a 4-3 player advantage.
“It goes down to late-game situations, you can get away with a little bit more,” Booker said. “I know if I’m just making change of direction or at least take a step under to get DA the chance to get his feet together.”
‘I’ve seen this movie before’
Then there’s Williams, who drew up a play knowing “an offensive player can touch the ball in the cylinder during a throw-in,” as explained by lead official Scott Foster after the game.
Williams knew the rule.
Devin Booker learned it back in his third NBA season when Tyson Chandler finished an inbounds lob pass from Dragan Bender at the buzzer to give the Suns a two-point win over the Memphis Grizzlies.
“I think it’s something that a lot of people don’t know,” Booker said. “Even talking to (Rajon) Rondo at halfcourt after the game, he’s like, ‘It don’t count.’ I’m like, ‘I’ve seen it, and I’ve seen this movie before. It counts. It counts.’
Ayton didn’t. That’s why the he toned down his celebration for such a captivating moment that the sellout crowd of 16,645 fans going absolutely wacky.
“I worried, but I did what Coach told me to do,” said Ayton in drawing major laughter from the media in the room with him during the zoom call. “So I’m like, ‘Is it on me?’ Coach looked at me and said ‘Yo, that’s the rule.’ It’s above the cylinder, you can finish that play.’ I wasn’t too sure if he was right because the other coaches are pulling him aside going, ‘Yo, we’ve got a couple more seconds left.’”
‘We had no answer’
However, before all of that, Cameron Payne gave the Clippers the business.
Replacing Paul in the starting lineup for a second consecutive game, Payne scored a career-high 29 points, a gamehigh nine assists and didn’t commit a turnover in 37 minutes.
“We just had no answer for Cameron Payne,” Clippers coach Tyronn Lue said. “He got downhill all night. His speed and quickness really hurt us.”
However, the night belonged to Ayton, who knew how this play would end it if the play went according to plan.
“I believe once my feet touched the paint where I can go upright, left, one, two, not many people are going to be up there with me,” Ayton said.
What to watch in Game 3
Paul hasn’t played since June 13 when the Suns completed their sweep of the Nuggets in Denver where he scored a game-high 37 points in the closeout victory.
He’s taken care of his body, but he went a stretch without practicing to give his right shoulder injury time to improve. So how will his endurance be at the start of Game 3.
Booker will likely play with a mask Thursday after suffering a cut on his nose in battling Beverley that required stitches. The Clippers turned up the defensive intensity after Booker dropped a 40-point triple-double in Game 1.
The additional attention led to Booker only scoring 20 on 5-of-14 shooting and committing seven of the team’s nine turnovers.