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The Phoenix Suns will kick off their 203 NBA Playoff run against the Los Angeles Clippers in a rematch of the 2021 Western Conference Finals. When the two franchises faced off for the West crown two seasons ago, Los Angeles was without their All-Star forward Kawhi Leonard, who sprained his ACL in the previous round against the Utah Jazz. This time around, they will be without their other All-Star forward, Paul George who suffered a knee sprain on March 21.
George has already been ruled out of the series, which gives the Clippers long odds against a Suns’ squad with a surplus of talent. But the Clippers star says he has worked tirelessly to get back on the floor.
“I’ve been feeling better,” George said on his podcast, “Podcast P”.
“I’ve been working my butt off, grinding every day. Six days out of the week I’m training, doing rehab. I’m gonna give it every chance I got, man. It’s coming down to the wire.”
ESPN Analyst Picks Clippers to Upset Suns
The Suns will be tough for any team to beat in four out of seven games. Phoenix was already loaded with talent for the last two seasons, so much, they went to the NBA Finals in 2021. But quietly, the Clippers have retooled as well. They have traded in veteran players for younger talent, such as Terrance Mann and Bones Hyland. They also added defensive wings in Robert Covington and Norman Powell, all in the last two seasons.
Los Angeles may be down an All-Star, but they are not devoid of talented players. NBA analyst Kendrick Perkins is among the minority who believe the Clippers can pull off the upset.
“I got the Clippers beating the Suns, it don’t get no spicier than that. Here’s why, even without Paul George, when I look at the Clippers and I look at their depth at the wing position. When you look at Kawhi Leonard and Nicolas Batum and Covington and Norman Powell, and you see all those multiple guys that they could actually throw at KD and Devin Booker,” Perkins said on “NBA Today”.
“I’m watching yesterday, and we saw Plumlee and Bones Hyland get in each other’s faces, that’s because they care. Over the last two months, we talked about Anthony Davis, and we talked about Joel Embiid, Giannis, and Jokic, but we didn’t talk about Kawhi Leonard. He has quietly been dominating the league without getting our praise.”
Terrance Mann Sounds off on Kevin Durant
Paul George is one of the most talented players in the NBA, so his absence will be felt throughout the series. But the x-factor in this series will, without a doubt, be Kevin Durant. This will be the first time Durant and Kawhi go toe to toe in the playoffs since the 2019 NBA Finals when Durant infamously ruptured his Achilles. It will also be his first playoff appearance as a member of the Phoenix Suns.
Having to deal with an All-Star backcourt of Chris Paul and Devin Booker was already a lot to handle. But now that Durant, one of the most prolific scorers of all-time, has been added to the mix, Clippers’ guard Terrance Mann knows he and his teammates will have to be even more locked in than they usually are.
“I mean, they have Kevin Durant,” Mann said, via Tomer Azarly of ClutchPoints. “So… That’s just really it. They have Kevin Durant. So, it’s not just any trio. You got one of the best scorers of all time out there that you got to worry about now. It’s gonna be a completely different game plan from when we played them in the past. I think it’s almost a completely different team because he’s out there.”
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