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Phoenix Suns stars Kevin Durant and Chris Paul had strong words for Los Angeles Clippers All-Star Russell Westbrook after winning Game 4 on April 22.
Both Durant and Paul gave Westbrook high praise.
Durant and Westbrook were teammates on the Oklahoma City Thunder for eight years, while Paul said Westbrook is one of his closest friends in the league. The Clippers guard got booed by Los Angeles Lakers fans last season and this season when he played for the purple and gold and has been called Russell “Westbrick” by people on social media and at games.
However, Westbrook has resurrected his career with the Clippers. In four games versus the Suns, the UCLA product is averaging 26.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 7.3 assists while shooting 46.0% from the field, 40.9% from beyond the arc and 88.2% from the free-throw line. The NBA’s all-time leader in triple-doubles, Westbrook put up 37 points, six rebounds and four assists in Game 4, but the Clippers lost to the Suns by 12 points. Phoenix now has a commanding 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.
Kevin Durant & Devin Booker Have Been Unstoppable Together
Bleacher Report’s Grant Hughes picked the pairing of Durant and Devin Booker as one of his winners in the playoffs thus far. Durant is averaging 27.8 points in the Clippers series, while Booker is putting up 34.8 points per game.
“It shouldn’t come as any great surprise that two of the most scalable superstars in the league have meshed perfectly with such limited reps. But the synergy between Devin Booker and Kevin Durant has been one of the significant storylines of the 2023 postseason,” Hughes wrote on April 23. “Yes, the Phoenix Suns have depth issues. And yes, they’re benefitting from an LA Clippers team that, after spending the season load-managing stars to avoid exactly this predicament, is dealing with injuries to both Paul George and Kawhi Leonard. But that doesn’t detract from the symbiotic dominance we’re seeing out of KD and Booker, with the Suns stars most recently combining for 61 points in Game 3—all on a collective 50 percent from the field and 60 percent from deep (6-of-10). So far, Booker has been the more productive of the two. He racked up 38 points in Phoenix’s series-evening Game 2 win as he and the rest of the Suns combined to shoot a preposterous 21-of-29 from mid-range. The three-time All-Star followed that up with 45 points on a cool 62.1 percent from the field in Game 3. It was telling that he so readily credited Durant, who had eclipsed 25 points in all three contests and was shooting 51.0 percent for the series, after that incendiary Game 3 effort.”
The Suns have lost only one game with Durant in the lineup. They went 8-0 with KD in the regular season and are 3-1 in the playoffs.
Kevin Durant: ‘Sometimes I Get a Little Frustrated When We Don’t Play Efficient Basketball’
Durant admitted after Game 4 that he sometimes gets frustrated when the Suns don’t play efficient basketball. Phoenix had 13 turnovers in Game 4.
“I wouldn’t say I was frustrated from the fouling but they doing a good job of sending two at me in my spots,” Durant said. “I see a small guy in the post, I want to go to work right there, and then I see somebody else coming to help. So that may be a little frustrating. But physicality, every time I step on the court, whether it’s a pickup game or NBA game, somebody gonna be physical with me because of my stature. I’ve been playing through that since I was eight years old, so it ain’t nothing different. Just trying to figure out what’s the best way for us to be efficient. Sometimes I get a little frustrated when we don’t play efficient basketball.”
The Suns will look to close out the Clippers series on April 25 at home.
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