LOS ANGELES – The day got off to a great start for the Phoenix Suns.
Chris Paul returned after missing Game 1 and Game 2 of the Western Conference final against the Los Angeles Clippers under the NBA’s health and safety protocols.
The night did not end well for her, however.
With Paul looking out of rhythm with his shot, Devin Booker having a second bad night in a row and apparently irritated by the mask for his broken nose, and Cameron Payne knocking down in the first quarter with an ankle injury, the Suns may have had her Worst game of the postseason.
Combine that with the fourth-placed clippers, which get hot in the second half from 3 and increase their defensive intensity, and this best-of-7 series becomes a little more interesting.
Paul George and Reggie Jackson together scored 50 points and led the Clippers to a 106-92 win in Game 3 in front of 17,222 fans at the STAPLES Center on Thursday night to snap Phoenix’s franchise record in nine games in a playoff winning streak.
George bounced back from two missed free throws late in the Game 2 loss at Phoenix, scoring 27 points; Jackson added 23rd.
The Clippers have already overcome two 2-0 series deficits in this year’s postseason against the fifth seeded Dallas Mavericks and the top seeded Utah Jazz.
They will now try to level the series in Game 4 on Saturday at the STAPLES Center, likely without the All-NBA selection of the first team, Kawhi Leonard, who played five playoffs in a row with a sprained right knee in Game 4 against the Missed Jazz.
As for the runner-up Suns, Paul returned after missing the last two games according to health and safety protocols.
After not playing since June 13 when he took a game-high 37-point win over Denver in the conference semifinals at Phoenix’s Game 4 Closeout Road, Paul looked out of rhythm when he got 5 of 19 out of the Field shot and scored only 15 points.
Paul also played with some discomfort on his right hand after being fouled in the first half, while Booker was only 5 out of 21 off the field, scoring 15 points.
This is after the 5 of 16 in Game 2.
Then Paul’s replacement, Payne, suffered an ankle injury in the first quarter and didn’t return in the second half.
Payne hit a career high of 29 points as a starter for Paul when he won Game 2 on Tuesday and scored two points in Game 3 on Thursday’s 1-of-4 in just four minutes of play.
Payne eventually returned to the bench in the second half and could only pull a towel over his head in frustration after Reggie Jackson’s 3 gave the Clippers a 94-83 lead with 6:02 in Game 3.
The Clippers shot 9 out of 17 out of 3 in the second half.
Phoenix led 48-46 at halftime, although Paul and Booker each shot 2 out of 10 out of the field in the first half, scoring seven points apiece. Ayton paced the Suns with 10 points on 5-of-6, all of which came in the first quarter as he didn’t take a shot in the second.
Ayton paced the suns with 18 points.
Do you have an opinion on the current state of the sun? You can reach Sun’s Insider Duane Rankin at [email protected] or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on Twitter at @DuaneRankin.
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