A slew of stars on both sides, no major absentees… This confrontation between Clippers And Suns, narrowly beaten the day before by the Lakers and the Grizzlies respectively, combined all the ingredients to generate a great match. But this shock in the West did not really happen. Or at least not until the end.
The Arizona players matched the Californians for three quarters before exploding in the fourth. A severe explosion. About 10 minutes from the end, Kevin Durant, brilliant in the first period (20 of his 30 points), had just converted two free throws to keep Phoenix at three possessions (103-96).
A jumper from Kawhi Leonard, a winning basket from James Harden, another in the corner from Norman Powell or even a tap dunk from Daniel Theis later, and the Suns had exploded. While annihilating the Suns' attack, the locals scored a terrible 15-0 in just two minutes of play (118-96).
In this sequence, Frank Vogel's men increased the number of bad shots and inaccuracies in transmissions, Kawhi Leonard only had to use himself to steal ball after ball (5 interceptions). Seeing his team sinking, and his “small ball” strategy not working at all, the Suns technician decided to release all his starters five minutes from time.
At the finish: a heavy defeat of 27 points, with a gap of 17 points conceded in the last period (37-20).
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The cleanliness of the Clippers' five. If the “Big Three” of the Suns scored almost 60% of their team's points, the score was much better distributed on the Californian side since all the starters finished with at least 14 points, led by Paul George's 25 points. It should be noted the excellent skill percentages of these men, like Ivica Zubac who largely won his duel of Balkan pivots with Jusuf Nurkic. And could say he was happy, at the end of the meeting, to play alongside James Harden and Russell Westbrook, who fueled him all evening. Both men displayed formidable efficiency. Overall, the Clippers shot 62%, including 52% from 3-point range.
– The big gap at the pass. The statistics obviously don't say everything about the collective gap between the two teams in this match. However, the Clippers generated almost twice as many assists as their opponents. This desire to share the leather was more obvious, while the Suns were sometimes too static. We think in particular of this action in the fourth quarter where Bradley Beal stood still while dribbling before logically losing the ball.
– Daniel Theis, one of the X factors. The statistical line is not the most spectacular, but you have to see all the work done by the German during the Clippers' “run” at the start of the fourth quarter. His interior activity on both sides of the field, while the Suns played without a pivot at this moment of the match, contributed to the domination of the Californians in this sector (+20 points scored in the paint, +19 rebounds). Five minutes from time, he found himself strangely alone under the circle. After this complete defensive mess, Frank Vogel took a time-out and let the match go by removing his major players.
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How to read the stats? Min = Minutes; Shots = Successful shots / Attempted shots; 3pts = 3-points / 3-points attempted; LF = free throws made / free throws attempted; O = offensive rebound; D=defensive rebound; T = Total rebounds; Pd = assists; Fte: Personal fouls; Int = Intercepts; Bp = Lost balls; Ct: Against; +/- = Point differential when the player is on the field; Pts = Points; Eval: player evaluation calculated from positive actions – negative actions.
