WESTERN HEROES
Suns top Clippers to reach NBA Finals for first time since 1993
The Phoenix Suns beat the LA Clippers on Wednesday, 130-103, to advance to the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993. Above: Phoenix Suns guard Devin Booker goes in for a slam during Game 6 at Staples Center in Los Angeles. Fellow Suns guard Chris Paul finished the night with 41 points in tying a playoff career high.
LOS ANGELES — Goodbye, Los Angeles Clippers. Hello, NBA Finals.
It's been a long time coming.
The Phoenix Suns, two years removed after having their second-worst season in franchise history with just 19 wins, have advanced to the finals after Wednesday's 130-103 Game 6 victory over the Clippers at STAPLES Center.
Chris Paul, in the building he once called home when leading the "Lob City" Clippers had a stretch in which he scored 24 of Phoenix's 30 points as the Suns built an 11992 lead with 5:49 remaining.
Paul finished with 41 points in tying a playoff career high
The Suns are back in the finals for the first time since 1993 when they were led by NBA MVP Charles Barkley. Despite owning the NBA's best record, Phoenix fell to Michael Jordan and the threebeat Chicago Bulls in six games.
This year's Suns finished with the NBA's second-best record at 51-21 in an NBA-shortened 72-game season. They pushed out the defending NBA champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games, swept the third-seeded Denver Nuggets in round two and eliminated the fourthseeded Clippers in six games in the Western Conference finals to reach the NBA Finals after an 11-year playoff drought.
Winning a franchise-record nine consecutive playoff games in their run to the finals, the second-seeded Suns will play either the third-seeded Milwaukee Bucks or fifth-seeded Atlanta Hawks in Game 1 of the finals either July 6 or July 8.
The Bucks-Hawks series is tied 2-2 going into Thursday's Game 5 in Milwaukee. If the series ends in six games, the finals will start July 6. If it goes seven, the finals will begin July 8.
The Suns built momentum off an 8-0 bubble run in the 2019-20 season that was put on pause in reaction to Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert testing positive for COVID-19.
They entered this season making a major move to acquire Chris Paul in a trade with the Oklahoma City Thunder. Phoenix sent four players with two being starters in Ricky Rubio and Kelly Oubre Jr. and a future first-round pick to the Thunder for Paul, one of the greatest point guards ever, and reserve Abdel Nader.
The Suns added Jae Crowder as part of their offseason moves. Couple that with the rise of All-Star Devin Booker and the improvement of Deandre Ayton, Mikal Bridges and Cam Johnson and the Suns were the surprise team in the NBA.
Suns General Manager James Jones won NBA executive of the year, Monty Williams finished second for the league's coach of the year honors and Paul was named second-team All-NBA as he finished fifth in the league MVP voting.
The individual accolades are part of the team success that has them returning to the finals.