Game: Los Angeles Clippers @ Phoenix Suns
Time: 10:00 p.m.
Odds: Clippers +12.5, Suns -12.5
Total: 223
In the middle of the third quarter, Devin Booker fired a sidearm pass across the court to the left corner hitting Kevin Durant. After the pass, Booker casually walked down the court, ready to play defense. The eye-level pass found an unguarded Durant, who settled in and made what appeared to be an easy three-pointer.
The Phoenix Suns were trailing the Los Angeles Clippers by a point in Game 4 of their playoff series when Booker made that pass. The Suns never fell behind again after Durant nailed that three. Durant led the Suns to a 3-1 series lead in the Western Conference playoffs on Saturday with 31 points and 11 rebounds in 45 minutes. When Phoenix plays Game 5 against the Clippers at home tonight, it will have its first chance to advance to the second round.
Durant’s move from the Brooklyn Nets to the Phoenix Suns in February has gone exactly as the team had hoped, save for an ankle injury that occurred before his first home game with his new team. With Durant on the court, Phoenix went 8-0 during the regular season and has won three more times in four playoff games, including Saturday’s 112-100 victory. On Saturday, Booker added 30 points and nine rebounds, and point guard Chris Paul brought it all together with 19 points and nine assists.
While the Suns seem destined to face the Denver Nuggets in the second round, the Clippers’ future is less clear. With a win in the first game of the series, hopes of moving on to the second round were raised, but those hopes are now all but gone.
Kawhi Leonard, a forward for Los Angeles, missed the game on Saturday for the second time in a row due to a knee injury, the extent of which is still unknown. Leonard has already been ruled out of Game 5. That’s why the Suns are huge double-digit favorites.
The incident has brought back memories of the 2021 playoffs when Leonard missed the final eight games due to a knee injury and the Clippers lost to the Suns. He ultimately required ACL surgery, which cost him the entire 2021–22 season.
The Clippers have been competitive against the Suns without Leonard and Paul George, who has been sidelined with a knee injury but worked out before Monday’s practice. Up until Durant’s three-pointer with 5:19 left in the third quarter of Game 4, Los Angeles led 66-65.
Russell Westbrook of the Clippers scored 37 points in Game 4 on 17-of-29 shooting. Over the past three games, Westbrook has averaged 31.7 points, 7.0 assists, and 6.3 rebounds while assuming the role of primary scorer. Westbrook has improved his reputation in his brief time with his new team after a difficult season in which he struggled to adjust to Lakers stars LeBron James and Anthony Davis, was traded to the Utah Jazz, was released, and then signed by the Clippers.
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