The Phoenix Suns took care of business on Tuesday night with a 136-130 win over the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 5 of their first-round series. After losing Game 1 at home, the Suns bounced back to win four in a row and take the series, 4-1. They'll now advance to the second round, where they'll face the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets.
Devin Booker led the way for the Suns with a playoff career-high 47 points, to go along with eight rebounds and 10 assists, while Kevin Durant went for 31 points of his own and Deandre Ayton chipped in 21 points and 11 rebounds. As a team, the Suns shot 54.3% from the field in another terrific offensive display.
With their offense getting anything it wanted, the Suns pulled away to lead by 20 in the second half, and appeared in line for a comfortable finish. Instead, the Clippers came storming back with some incredible 3-point shooting and had multiple chances to tie or take the lead in the final minutes. They could not capitalize, however, and the Suns escaped with the win.
Norman Powell led the way for the Clippers with 27 points, while Mason Plumlee put up 20 points and 10 rebounds. They had seven double-digit scorers in the game, and all nine players who checked in scored at least one basket, but they could not get enough stops throughout the night, and now the squad that had realistic visions of contending for a title is once again denied.
Here are some key takeaways from Game 5.
Booker delivers again
Devin Booker has been arguably the best player in the playoffs so far, and he furthered his case with another stunning performance in Game 5 to get the Suns over the line. He poured in a playoff career-high 47 points on 19 of 27 from the field and added eight rebounds and 10 assists.
With that performance, Booker became the first player in NBA history with at least 45 points and 10 assists in a series-clinching win. In addition, he passed Charles Barkley for the most 30-point games and most 40-points games in Suns franchise playoff history; Booker now has 17 30-point outings and six 40-pointers. If all of that wasn't enough, he joined Michael Jordan and LeBron James as the only players with multiple 45-point games on at least 60 percent shooting in a first-round series.
Booker did most of his work in the third quarter, when he outscored the Clippers by himself, 25-24. The variety in his attack during that frame was something to behold. He made at least two shots from 3-point land, midrange, the paint and the restricted area. No matter what the Clippers threw at him, he had an answer.
Clippers can't capitalize down the stretch
Once the Suns pushed the lead to 20 points early in the fourth quarter, the game felt over. The Suns' offense was firing on all cylinders, while the Clippers seemed to have run out of gas. Then, just as the Suns took their foot off the pedal, the Clips found some extra fuel in reserve.
During a 1:33 stretch in the middle of the fourth quarter, the Clippers made 3-pointers on four consecutive possessions to turn a 15-point deficit into a three-point deficit. There were multiple times during the run where the camera panned to a bewildered Monty Williams on the sideline and we got some great reaction shots.
From there, the Clippers were right back in the game and had multiple chances to tie or take the lead. But they just couldn't make that one play to get them over the hump. Russell Westbrook missed an open layup that would have tied the game with 2:19 remaining; Nic Batum bricked an open go-ahead 3-pointer with 1:18 to play; Norman Powell turned it over with 1:02 remaining as they trailed by two; Westbrook threw the ball away with 51 seconds left in a four-point game.
Suns set up showdown with Nuggets
The Suns had to work more than everyone expected, especially once Kawhi Leonard joined Paul George on the bench, but they got past the Clippers all the same and are now on to the second round, where they'll face Nikola Jokic and the No. 1 seed Denver Nuggets.
This is the matchup we were all hoping to see, and it will be fascinating to see how the Suns respond to a tougher test. There's no question they can score the ball; they have the highest offensive rating of any playoff team at 122.5 points per 100 possessions. At the same time, they have some real concerns about their lack of depth and did not defend the Clippers all that well, even after Leonard went down.
Same old story for the Clippers
The Clippers and their fans have unfortunately heard this story too many times before: a promising team sees its playoff hopes dashed by ill-timed injuries. This time around, the Clippers were without both Kawhi Leonard and Paul George due to knee injuries. Leonard tweaked his knee in Game 1 and missed the final three games of the series, while George didn't play at all after spraining his knee late in the regular season.
As a result, the Clippers' season ends early yet again. Since they acquired by Leonard and George in the summer of 2019, those two have played in only 24 playoff games together and they've won three total series. The one year that both were actually healthy, they choked in the bubble and blew a 3-1 lead to the Nuggets in the second round.