The Los Angeles Clippers demonstrated that they are a legitimate threat to win their first-round series against the Phoenix Suns in the opening game of the series. Kawhi Leonard displayed his highest level of playoff form.
The fifth-seed Clippers will hope to take a 2-0 lead in the Western Conference series when they visit the Suns on Tuesday night.
Leonard’s first playoff game in 22 months was Sunday’s 115-110 victory over the Utah Jazz, when he tore the ACL in his right knee.
The underdog Clippers defeated fourth-seeded Phoenix with an impressive opening salvo that included 38 points scored by the two-time NBA Finals MVP on 13 of 24 shooting.
Kevin Durant, who was playing in his first playoff game with the Suns, was also outdone by Leonard. Durant was acquired from the Brooklyn Nets two months ago with the intention of helping the team win its first NBA championship.
Phoenix lost for the first time in Durant’s nine games on the floor, scoring 27 points with 11 assists and 9 rebounds. However, Leonard, who also had five rebounds and five assists, far exceeded his contributions.
Russell Westbrook also put in a strong performance for the Clippers in the opening game, scoring just nine points on 3-of-19 shooting.
Westbrook added 11 bounce back, eight helps, three blocks and two takes and made the play of the game with the Trimmers safeguarding a late noteworthy lead.
With 10.1 seconds remaining, Suns star Devin Booker was driving to the basket when Westbrook blocked the shot, leapt to get the ball, and slammed it off Booker’s left leg and out of bounds to give Los Angeles possession.
Eric Gordon then, at that point, fixed the challenge with two free tosses with 7.9 seconds left.
From the start, Phoenix struggled and was 16 down early in the second quarter. The Clippers were the sharper team down the stretch, but the Suns eventually took the lead thanks to a 15-0 run in the third quarter.
Torrey Craig put in a big performance for Phoenix, scoring 22 points on 9-of-12 shooting. Chris Paul only scored seven points despite having 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
The Clippers were led by Gordon, who scored 19 points in a solid performance. With Paul George out with a knee injury and possibly not recovering in time to play in the series, he appears to be a primary option.
