Getty Devin Booker #1 and Kevin Durant #35 of the Phoenix Suns.
After the Phoenix Suns dropped Game 1 at home to a Los Angeles Clippers team without one of their key players in Paul George, the entire Suns’ roster was put under a microscope. But none came under more scrutiny than All-Star forward Kevin Durant. After being swept by the Boston Celtics in the first round of the playoffs last year while he was still a member of the Brooklyn Nets, some began to wonder if Durant could be in for another early exit with his third team in five years. But Suns star Devin Booker shut down the notion that Durant had something to prove in Game 2.
“That’s a 2-time champ, a 2-time Finals MVP,” Booker said when asked if the Suns needed to prove to could win with Durant, who had been winless in his previous seven playoff games dating back to Game 6 of the 2021 Eastern Conference Semifinals via NBA Interviews. “We didn’t lose any games with each other in the regular season, and we just dropped Game 1.”
Ty Lue, Monty Williams Sound Off After Game 2
Booker came up huge for the Suns in Game 2. He hit a three-pointer in the waning moments of the second quarter to tie the game at 59 going into the break. His second act was even better, as he dropped 18 points of his 38 points in the third quarter. The best word to describe the Suns’ performance in the second half? Juice.
Coming out of the halftime break, it was just juice, toughness, grit,” Suns head coach Monty Williams said after Game 2 via NBA Interviews. “Offensive execution was decent, but I think we were able to get the stops in a row to start the second half. That really gave us a lot of energy.”
On the Clippers’ side of things, despite a valiant effort, the Suns proved to be too much for them to handle in Game 2. Durant and Booker combined for 62 points as Phoenix went on to tie the series at 1-1. Clippers head coach Ty Lue, who is known for being a master at making adjustments, said he and his team pulled out all of the stops, but a win was not in the cards for the Clippers in Game 2.
“We tried to blitz, we tried to fire, we tried a lot of things,” Clippers coach Ty Lue said after the Game 2 loss via NBA Interviews. “Like I said, they just played great.”
Series Shifts to Los Angeles for Game 3
The Suns avoided going into an 0-2 hole, but they are not out of the woods yet, especially considering that the Clippers could have just as easily won that game.
Now the series shifts to Game 3 at the Crypto.com Arena in Los Angeles. And if the Suns want to advance to the second round, they need to at least get a split in the next two games on the road. Otherwise, they’ll find themselves in a 1-3 hole, a situation only a handful of teams have successfully dug out of.
But Booker and Durant have proven to be just as lethal as advertised. However, it should be noted that the longer the series is extended, the longer it will give Clippers star Paul George to return from his knee injury. It will be interesting to see how the series unfolds.