Durant and former teammate Russell Westbrook, who had another strong game with 28 points, barked at each other going to their benches after a timeout in the second half. There was no missing the game intensifying with the Suns pushing back to avoid going down 2-0. "The guy that can initiate, make plays for others and get to the rim with either hand so he can do pretty much everything at that point guard position." "I feel like he's an oversized point guard to be honest," said Kevin Durant, who put in 25 points. He also had four assists, accounting for 28 of the Suns' 33 points in the pivotal quarter. Booker was a machine, scored 18 points in the quarter on 7-of-8 shooting as he forced the ball in transition and the defense kept working. Then Phoenix opened the third quarter on a 12-2 run that secured the lead for good. When they're doing that, just have to simplify it."īooker ended the first half with a 3-pointer to finish off an 11-2 run that was fueled by five straight Clippers misses as the Suns shut off the paint and sent their own double teams at star Kawhi Leonard. I don't think a lot of teams can do that. They have a veteran team that can do it on the fly. " are doing a lot of things that we haven't seen before. "It's that time of year everything counts," Booker said. It was led by Devin Booker, who finished with 38 points and nine assists in a playmaking masterpiece. It triggered an offensive explosion that led to a 123-109 Phoenix victory to even the series at 1-1. The Clippers took Game 1, smothering the Suns' attack, and were up 13 points with more of the same in the second quarter of Tuesday's Game 2.īut then the Suns figured out a way to stop it: Don't let the Clippers even set up a defense.Īfter a key timeout during which coach Monty Williams challenged his team to "draw a line in the sand," the Suns engaged their own defense and strung together stops. With zone, double teams from every angle, rapid-fire matchup switches and other various wrinkles, Lue's strategy was working. PHOENIX - LA Clippers coach Ty Lue came into this series with a plan to confuse, frustrate and unbalance a Phoenix Suns team inexperienced playing together with unending defensive scheme changes. You have reached a degraded version of because you're using an unsupported version of Internet Explorer.įor a complete experience, please upgrade or use a supported browserĭevin Booker, Suns take Game 2 against Clippers to pull even
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