Six wins in a row, 17 successes in their last 18 matches, best record in the league… The Suns are preparing to go on an “All-Star break” with as many lights as possible green. That night, they hardly repelled the always-attractive Clippers, who remained on a prestigious victory against the Warriors.
The visitors were able to count on a Marcus Morris who was very comfortable with his outside shot. Author of 12 points of his 23 points in the second quarter, he allowed, with a good Nicolas Batum, his team to stay in contact at the break (53-47). In the following period, a lieutenant opposite answered him by scoring 12 points in turn: Mikal Bridges. The winger notably took advantage of several lost balls from Reggie Jackson to go dunk.
He was followed in his effort by Devin Booker, author of a big pass at the end of the quarter, to pass a 14-2 to the Clippers struggling to afford good shots (81-68). The match clearly seemed to swing in favor of the locals. But Tyronn Lue released two assets from his bench: Robert Covington and Luke Kennard. Both men contributed greatly to the 12-2 iNFLicted in response by the Clippers.
Income tied, the visitors even briefly regained the advantage six minutes from time (88-90). The sequel was written by the Suns and their maestro, Chris Paul. The leader was decisive in almost all subsequent possessions, finishing or especially creating. With him, the Suns naturally took three possessions in advance to finally win.
WHAT YOU MUST REMEMBER
– The management of the “money time” of the Suns. It’s unclear how many times it’s been written about this season how unfazed the Suns seem in the final minutes. New illustration this night with a Chris Paul still unplayable in the decisive moments. His control largely contrasted with the lack of lucidity of his vis-à-vis at the lead, Reggie Jackson. It should be noted that the Suns systematically win when they take the lead at the start of the last quarter this season (36 wins!).
– Few whistles. That’s what made the match quite enjoyable. The referees whistled only twelve faults to each team. Result: only 19 free throws attempted for all the protagonists.
– 10,000 points for Nicolas Batum! The Clippers winger is only the second Frenchman, after Tony Parker, to reach the threshold of 10,000 career points. TP has almost double the points: 19,743!
TOPS/FLOPS
✅ Mikal Bridges. In addition to hindering Reggie Jackson in defense, the winger signed a solid game in attack. We will remember his big third quarter and especially his decisive shot, in the three-point corner, just under 40 seconds from the end. In his last ten matches, he has averaged nearly 20 points with 62% on shots!
✅ Chris Paul. A 3-point basket five minutes from the end, then a lob pass to Deandre Ayton in traffic, another alley-oop to Devin Booker in transition, a small shot from four meters, the fixation passes to Mikal Bridges in the corner… “CP3” collected the right choices in the last minutes to sign his 31st double-double this season.
✅ Marcus Morris. We could have highlighted the good matches of Nicolas Batum or Ivica Zubac who finished with a much better impact on the score. But the strong winger behaved like the offensive leader of the Clippers (in February, he averaged 18 points) and did not lack address. Too bad Tyronn Lue was slow to revive him in the fourth quarter.
⛔ Reggie Jackson. Very complicated evening for the leader who never stopped shooting despite his clumsiness. In addition to missing all his long-range attempts, he missed a bunch of shots near the circle. After two more missed three-pointers, he lost a costly ball a minute from the end, with a phone transmission to Luke Kennard in transition.
THE FOLLOWING
Suns (47-10) : reception of the Rockets, the next night.
Clippers (29-31) : reception of the Rockets, Thursday.
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