Tag: Ayton

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/24/2021Written by Titan Frey

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports
  • SUNS 92
  • CLIPPERS 106 

The Los Angeles Clippers have just recorded their first conference finals win in their history. 

How did they do it? Well, they went down 0-2 in the series like the previous two, that’s how. 

Let me explain to those who may be confused. The Clippers for some reason seem to start playing after falling 0-2 in their series in these 2021 playoffs.

They did it in the first round against the Dallas Mavericks. Then they followed that up by falling 0-2 against the Denver Nuggets in the second round. 

Finally, after falling 0-2 against the hottest team in the playoffs, the Phoenix Suns, the Clippers flipped that switch. 

Even with the return of Chris Paul, the Clippers outworked the Suns all night to basically cruise to the win. 

One big adjustment in this series, which has helped the Clippers get a win is the switch to put Patrick Beverley on Devin Booker.

Booker’s shooting in the past two games where Beverley has been his primary defender has been terrible. Booker is a combined 10-37 in the last two games. 

If the Suns want to bounce back in game four (June 26 at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time), then Booker will have to figure out how to beat the defense of Beverley. 

NBA PLAYOFFS RECAP: 06/22/2021

Posted on by Titan Frey in Basketball, NBA, NBA Playoffs, Sports

Written by Titan Frey 

  • CLIPPERS 103
  • SUNS 104

The Los Angeles Clippers vs the Phoenix Suns game two is in the books. The game saw a lot of sloppy play, some headbanging that led to a possible broken nose, and some bad officiating. 

But I’m going to skip all that and go right to the end of the game. That’s when things got wild. There were some big key moments at the end of the game, including a game-winner that will go down in history. 

First, let’s discuss the use of replay down the stretch of a game. Yes, you want the officials to get the call right, but boy does it hamper the flow of the game and give an advantage to certain teams. 

The last 90 seconds of the game took 33 REAL minutes. There were as many reviews (5) as field goals (5) in that span. 

It also gave the Suns, who were out of timeouts a chance to set up the play to win the game… but we’ll get back to that in a second. 

Paul George is someone who was heavily criticized for his bad playoff performances. These playoffs, especially of late, he’s been playing at an extremely high level.

That can be said of this game as well, but in the crucial moments of the game, with 8.2 seconds to go and a one-point lead, George missed two free throws and the chance to ice the game. 

Fast-forward to .9 seconds to go. After another review enabled the Suns to set up a play, the Suns ran that play to perfection.

Deandre Ayton curled off a wonderful screen by Devin Booker and headed straight for the hoop. There, he found the ball from a beautiful inbounds pass from Jae Crowder and slammed it home, beating the buzzer.

It was a great play the Suns’ coach Monty Williams drew up, but again he shouldn’t have been able to draw it up with no timeouts, but thanks to replay review, he was able to. 

Game three will shift to Los Angeles. The Clippers have gone down 0-2 in both of their first two series and come back to win. Can they do it a third time?

Game three will be played on Thursday, June 24th at 9:00 PM Eastern Standard Time.