In a season defined by record scoring and turbocharged offenses, trench warfare broke out at Staples Center during Saturday's Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals between the Phoenix Suns and the LA Clippers. The two teams skilled at 3-point shooting combined to go 9-for-51 from beyond the arc (17.6%) and 34.3% off the field. With a tough fight after a traditional third-quarter rally by the Clippers, the squad shot a collective 2-for-21 from the field to begin the fourth quarter. According to ESPN Stats & Information, the Clippers attempted 10 advancing field goals in the fourth quarter — and missed all 10.
In the end, the Suns led the Clippers 15-14 in the final frame, enough to secure an 84-80 win and a 3-1 series lead as of Monday night's Game 5 (at 9 p.m. ET). ESPN / ESPN App). In one of the most intense franchise turnarounds in recent NBA history, a team that hadn't qualified for the playoffs in more than a decade is now only one game away from the NBA Finals.
"You put in the work—which comes summer, that comes through the regular season, communication, emphasizing all the details to win," said Suns guard Devin Booker. "I have faith in us, in this team, our coaching staff, the training staff, everyone around this organization. We've put in the work. We've put in the time. Now, it's time to show it. "
The Suns have emerged as one of the most attractive squads in the NBA this season. The Phoenix are a "fun team" that play an entertaining brand of basketball: a powerful pick-and-roll attack with charismatic guards such as Booker and Chris Paul; A bouncy big man is coming into his own in Deandre Ayton; A platoon of young perimeter snipers who go well with the ball, including Mikal Bridges and Cameron Johnson; And an emotional stopper in Jae Crowder.
Very little of that attraction was displayed on Saturday nights. Phoenix's 84 points were the lowest of any winning team this season, according to ESPN Stats & Info. After the first quarter, the Sun struggled to look quality in the half court and found the open ones. For the third game in a row in the series, Booker fought hard off the ground and was eventually dismissed late in the fourth quarter. The Sun shot 24.4% in the second half—the second-worst field goal percentage in the second half of playoff wins in the last 25 postseasons—and somehow managed to win a professional basketball game.
Despite the ugly game - or perhaps because of it - the victory was particularly impressive. Any NBA team playing it deeply in the postseason has the pyrotechnics necessary to put on an offensive display. real contender? They call on resourcefulness to win when they're playing awesome basketball. The Game 4 victory in Los Angeles revealed a team with mastery of margins, a quality Booker said drifted down from Sons coach Monty Williams.
"Monty is so detail-oriented," Booker said. "You have to be like that, understanding the small plays and understanding what people like to do, make or break the game.
Case in point: The Clippers have one of the switchiest defensive plans in the NBA, which has served them well in both the regular season and the playoffs. His mobility has enabled him to stay in front of Phoenix's perimeter raiders for most of the series. But no NBA defense is foolproof, and each presents a vulnerability that can be exploited. Even as the Clippers made life tough on Paul and Booker, the guard got enough daylight to pull off a contest from Clippers center Ivica Zuback. Just then Ayton slips deep into the paint and prepares himself to crash the aggressive glass and collect Sun's many memories.
"If you're going to miss that much, you expect to get some of them back," Williams said. "[Eighton's] ability to keep the ball in play without going back--he's one of the best I've ever seen rising in the air and reaching for tip-ins."
On a night when virtually no one posted a pretty line in the box score, Aytan was a paradigm of efficiency. He scored 19 points, collected 22 rebounds (nine of them on the offensive end) and blocked four shots. Appropriately, she and Paul connected with a pick-and-roll alley-up to end the Sun's fourth-quarter drought. That action with the pair was one of the only productive pieces of Sun's crime.
Ayton continues to enjoy a breakout season, which saw him gain fluency in back-line defense as well as pick-and-roll—both essential tasks any aspiring all-star biggie should master. After the game, Ayton credited Paul for that development, noting that the 16-year veteran was "the only person who ever pushed me like an older brother pushed me." A master of detail like his coach, Paul schooled Ayton in the dark arts of pick-and-roll. The mechanics and nuances don't make for good highlight footage, but they're exactly the kind of elements that empower a team to prevail on a bad shooting night.
"It started in training camp," Ayton said of his graduate-level education under Paul. "The first thing he told me that was going to keep me in the league for a long time was Angle. And I was like, 'Angles?'"
Angle, actually. Because each playoff win results in a dynamic scorer dropping 45 in one night, he is vulnerable, the margin there are two for the winning team. In one season, Ayton has demonstrated the reliability and smarts of a No. 1 overall pick. In that spirit, Paul remarked that for such a young rooster, the Suns are unusually ripe.
"We have a young team, but with some old spirits," said Paul.
Not that there isn't a healthy supply of young freaks. After Saturday's game, Ayton showed up at his news conference wearing a black T-shirt featuring a giant floating head of Booker with his nose broken. Ayton explained that a shirt designed by a friend told the world that the sun could punch him in the face.
Booker, whom Paul referred to as the oldest 24-year-old man in the world, was a little more calm. When asked whether he allowed himself to contemplate the Suns' proximity to the NBA Finals, Booker measured up, if they were in the clear.