Russell Westbrook comes up big down the stretch as the Clippers take a 1-0 lead in the series over the Suns.
PHOENIX – Scattered throughout the concourse near Section 101 of the Footprint Center, stunned fans clad in purple and orange scrambled for the exits in near silence in the aftermath of the visiting LA Clippers stealing Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals 115-110.
The 17,701 in attendance represented the 75th consecutive sellout crowd at the venue if we’re counting both the regular season and the playoffs.
Sadly, those fans haven’t witnessed a Phoenix postseason victory in Footprint Center since Game 5 of the 2022 Western Conference semifinals.
“A very back-and-forth game all game,” said forward Kevin Durant, who finally lost an outing in a Suns uniform after an 8-0 start with the new team. “Those three 3’s they hit late in the fourth were huge. We were [in] a pretty even game until then.”
We’ll get into all that and more in our five takeaways, and if Sunday’s clash was any indication, a hotly contested affair awaits Tuesday at the Footprint Center for Game 2.
1. 3-for-19
Gold shirt open, necklace dangling, Russell Westbrook tried, but couldn’t hold back the laughter when asked what’s so special about shooting 3-for-19 from the floor.
See, the point guard’s career postseason record is 2-0 when he shoots exactly 3-for-19. He did that against the Suns, finishing with nine points, 11 rebounds, and eight assists.
“I don’t know,” Westbrook said, smiling. “But I guess that’s the secret number. We won both games. So, sh—if it works, then hey, I’m with that.”
It’s not that simple though. With the shot clanging off the rim and backboard all night, Westbrook pushed hard in other ways to make an impact in LA’s victory. The 34-year-old drilled a pair of free throws to give the Clippers 111-108 lead. As the clock wound down to 10.1 ticks remaining, the point guard blocked an attempted Devin Booker drive at the rim, and then showcased the presence of mind to knock the ball off the Suns’ guard’s leg out of bounds. The play gave LA another possession, which led to Eric Gordon extending the lead with a couple of free throws that made the score 113-108 with 7.9 seconds left.
Russell Westbrook overcomes a 3-for-19 shooting performance by doing 'the other stuff.'
“I told him during the game that your scoring is not that important,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said. “Don’t get frustrated with missing shots. You bring us way more than just scoring the basketball, so don’t let that affect your game.”
Westbrook listened and followed through, gobbling up a game-high five offensive rebounds, which ultimately proved backbreaking for the Suns. LA dominated Phoenix 15-6 on the offensive glass, with five of those precious boards coming in the fourth quarter alone.
Westbrook also set a tone defensively with his physicality guarding Durant. The Clippers deployed an entire rotation of defenders to disrupt Durant that started with Westbrook and included Nicolas Batum, Eric Gordon and even Kawhi Leonard late when the game hung in the balance.
“I know they got a lot of extra attempts on offensive rebounds that led to open 3’s,” Booker said.
As mentioned before, Westbrook now owns a record of 2-0 in the playoffs when he shoots 3-for-19 from the field. In the regular season, however, Westbrook is 0-2 under those conditions.
2. Killer 3’s
Speaking of 3-pointers, LA connected on three in a row from range — two from Leonard and one from Gordon — to seize a six-point edge with just 1:33 left to play.
The next 40 seconds largely determined the game’s outcome, as the Clippers crashed the offensive glass over that span for three rebounds off a trio of misses, with Booker eventually fouling Westbrook with the Suns down one with 17.7 seconds left. After sinking the two free throws, the Clippers point guard landed the game-sealing block on Booker while collecting the ensuing rebound.
“They had about three or four possessions where they had like four cracks at it because we couldn’t secure the rebound,” Suns coach Monty Williams said. “If you look at the defensive possessions, if you just get the rebound, the numbers are extremely in our favor. So, we gave them [15] offensive rebounds tonight, but timely ones, and then we had a couple of mishaps down the stretch and gave Kawhi [two 3’s] and then Gordon got a 3. So, those things just kind of piled up at the end.”
Despite shooting just 32% from deep on the night, LA hit the 3s when most needed, connecting on those game changers on three consecutive possessions over a span of 1:03 in the fourth quarter.
3. Paul George sighting
The eight time All-Star forward supported the Clippers from the bench on Sunday and sat at his locker in the aftermath of the win, but he’s likely to miss the entire opening round of the playoffs recovering from a sprained right knee, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
All-Star F Paul George is likely to miss the Clippers’ entire opening-round Western Conference playoff series against the Suns because of his sprained right knee, @wojespn reported on NBA Countdown on Sunday.
— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) April 16, 2023
LA stole Game 1 of the series on the strength of a strong night from Leonard, who poured in a game-high 38 points in his first postseason outing since 2021. The game also marked Leonard’s first playoff matchup against Durant since the 2019 NBA Finals.
Without George in the fold, the Clippers know they’ll need to lean on Leonard even more.
4. Welcome back, Kawhi
Kawhi Leonard makes the most of his 1st playoff game in nearly 2 years.
Since we’re on the subject of Leonard, it’s safe to say he’s finally completely back to form after missing 18 of LA’s first 24 games in the regular season and playing in 47 of the remaining 58. After the All-Star break, Leonard averaged 27 points, seven rebounds, and four assists on 54% from the field and 45% from deep. The stat line after Sunday’s victory looked strikingly similar, except Leonard erupted for 25 of his 38 points in the second half.
Interestingly, Leonard has reeled off 30-plus points in 27 of his 49 career postseason outings since the start of his 2019 title run with the Toronto Raptors. The two-time NBA Defensive Player of the Year and two-time NBA Finals MVP relished the opportunity to match up with Durant again.
Durant embarks on his 12th postseason run in 15 years as a pro, having finished the regular season as the first player with 55-40-90 shooting splits in NBA history.
Against the Clippers, the 12-time All-Star missed his first five shots. In fact, Durant didn’t drain his first field goal until two minutes and 39 seconds into the second quarter.
“It’s great,” Leonard said of the matchup against Durant. “He’s an all-time player, Hall of Famer. This is what it’s about. So, I’ve just got to keep having fun with it. It’s good. It’s playoff basketball.”
This playoff series marks the sixth between the star forwards, and the last time they shared the floor in the postseason was Game 5 of the 2019 Finals, when Durant suffered an Achilles injury. Leonard, Durant, and LeBron James are the only active players to have won multiple Finals MVPs.
5. Battle of the benches
The Suns need deeper contributions from their bench if they're to keep up with the Clippers.
LA flexed incredible depth in Game 1 as its reserves blasted Phoenix’s backups 34-10, thanks to Norman Powell and Terance Mann combining for 24 points. In fact, LA’s four-man bench rotation outworked six Suns reserves.
But that shouldn’t come as a surprise. The Clippers’ bench has averaged 47.8 points per game over the team’s last 10 outings, counting the regular season and Game 1, without George in the lineup. During the regular season, LA’s bench ranked No. 1 in offensive rating and 3-point percentage, third in scoring average and field goals made, and fourth in assists.
In short, they’re a problem that Williams and the Suns need to counter as quickly as possible.
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Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.
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