NBA Playoff DifferenceMakers: June 24, 2021

What were the key moments and stats behind the Los Angeles Clippers’ season-saving Game 3 win over the Phoenix Suns?

Los Angeles Clippers 106, Phoenix Suns 92

Suns lead series 2-1

FINAL BOX SCORE

Y’know, ahead of Game 3, I was wondering to myself if Chris Paul’s return would actually help the Los Angeles Clippers. CP3 has been the on-court catalyst that helped the Phoenix Suns get to this point, but the Paul-less Suns caught the Clippers by surprise. They utilized the confidence that Paul and head coach Monty Williams instilled in them and pushed past the Clippers en route to a 2-0 lead.

Now that Paul is back, the Clippers are finally facing the team they scouted for and gameplanned around. A full Suns roster with a rusty Chris Paul on their homecourt could play right into LA’s hands.

It apparently did, as the Clippers ran away with the decisive victory Thursday night. Los Angeles was ahead by double-digits for most of the second half and were up by as many as 18 points.

It was a rough night for the Suns’ backcourt. Chris Paul dished out 12 assists and three steals, but he shot a brutal 5-of-19 (26.3 percent) from the field. Paul’s rust coupled with the Clippers’ inherently intense defense kept CP3 from being his normally productive self.

Devin Booker, meanwhile, played Game 3 with a mask as he recovers from a broken nose. The lack of peripheral vision coupled with being guarded by the relentless Patrick Beverley forced him to have the worst game of his postseason: 15 points on 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) shooting from the field.

To make matters even worse, backup guard Cameron Payne rolled his left ankle in the first quarter and exited the game after just four minutes of play. It’s unfortunate because he was playing so well and was a spark plug for Phoenix in this series. We’ll find out the severity in the coming days, but losing him after just getting Paul back would be quite the blow to the Suns’ depth.

On the other side, the Clippers did a great job of bouncing back from that crushing Game 2 loss. Lesser teams would have folded after George’s two missed free throws and the buzzer-beating dunk. However, LA has shown all postseason just how confident and resilient they are in the face of adversity. They did it again on Thursday night, and should be commended for that.

One of the stumbling blocks for the Clippers in this series was finding enough offensive production to make up for Kawhi Leonard’s absence. Of course, Paul George did his part with 27 points (despite shooting 34.6 percent from the field), 15 rebounds, and eight assists. But who else? Reggie Jackson followed up with 23 points and Ivica Zubac rounded up a 15-point, 16-rebound double-double. On top of that, the Clippers also allowed their second-lowest point total of the playoffs. All of that is a recipe for LA to secure their first conference finals win in franchise history.

Now we have ourselves a series, and the intrigue is as high as ever. Will Chris Paul still be rusty by Game 4? Will Devin Booker still have his mask, and will he struggle with it on if he does? Can the Clippers maintain their winning offensive production? Could they keep the Suns under 100 points again? It will be fun to find out on Saturday!