For the Suns, Chris Paul’s virtuoso 41-point performance in Game 6 sealed the fate of a short-handed LA Clippers squad that fought valiantly in defeat.
The Clippers bow out with their heads held high, as a dogged campaign marked the longest postseason run in franchise history.
The Bucks, who lost Giannis Antetokounmpo to a knee injury in Game 4, saw Khris Middleton and Jrue Holiday step up big to secure the series over the Atlanta Hawks.
A lot of times, you get an idea of a player’s value most when they’re not there.
From watching games on FaceTime with head coach Monty Williams at night for extra scouting, to possibly texting his brother CJ adjustments while he sat courtside in Game 1, to FaceTiming the team seconds after the final buzzer, Paul was an active part of the team.
When Paul returned, he showed signs of rust after missing almost two weeks of games and practices in the league’s health and safety protocols.
But on the road, in his old confines of Staples Center, Paul orchestrated brilliance in closing out the Clippers.
When the Bucks needed him most in the conference finals, Middleton was at his best.
He outscored the Hawks 20-17 in the final period all by himself, knocking down eight of his 13 shot attempts — half of his makes and nearly half of his attempts coming from beyond the arc.
After a poor-shooting Game 4 , Middleton stepped up again after Giannis Antetokounmpo went out of the lineup in the second half of that game with a left knee injury that would sideline him the rest of the series.
He had 23 points on 8-of-12 shooting in the period, including four 3-pointers, as Milwaukee turned a narrow four-point advantage at halftime into a commanding 19-point lead heading into the final quarter.
That perception started to change last season in the bubble when Booker helped lead Phoenix to an 8-0 record even though the Suns came up just short of the West’s play-in tournament.
Booker got things started on the right foot in the conference finals against the LA Clippers by dropping his first NBA triple-double: 40 points, 13 rebounds and 11 assists.
It was in Game 2 when Booker broke his nose in three spots after a head-to-head collision with Clippers guard Patrick Beverley.
Sometimes he’d play with the mask; sometimes he’d ditch it.
George’s series against the Suns was a display in personal resiliency, as he took on the burden of Kawhi Leonard’s absence to keep alive his team’s chance to advance to the Finals.
Without Leonard, George was obviously relied upon in a more direct, alpha dog role, but the Clippers also adapted to playing a more democratic style, spacing the floor and relying on ball movement.
But after George and the rest of the team put up such a fight, the core of the Clippers appears much better today than it did then.
Although Giannis was supporting his teammates from the bench as the Bucks won Games 5 and 6 to reach the NBA Finals due to the knee injury he suffered in the second half of Game 4, Milwaukee would not have been in position to win the series without him.
Perhaps his best performance was in Game 2, when he scored 25 points in just 29 minutes of action in the Bucks’ blowout win, making 11 of his 18 shot attempts.
He had a double-double of 28 points and 11 boards through three quarters before taking a backseat to Middleton and making both of his shot attempts in the final period.
He came within an assist of what would have been his second career playoff triple-double and scored a team-high 34 points on 14-of-25 shooting.