The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

BAHAMIAN DeAndre Ayton and his Phoenix Suns are now in the driver’s seat of the National Basketball Association’s Western Conference Finals.

On Saturday night at the STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, Ayton and the Suns escaped with a hard fought 84-80 decision over the Clippers in game four of the best-of-seven series.

They head back home with a 3-1 lead in the series and could close out tonight at the Phoenix Suns Arena with a victory to advance to the NBA Championship series.

If the Clippers force game six, it could be played in Los Angeles on Wednesday.

Ayton, the Suns’ number one draft pick in 2018, continued his impressive run in the postseason, scoring 19 points with a career-high 22 rebounds.

He took some criticism as he responded to the claim that he was outplayed by Ivica Zubac in Game 3 as the Clippers avoided a sweep.

“It was up to me to get in front of that or compete with that or challenge that,” said Ayton.

“Just tried my best. That’s about it. Just really tried my best to be relentless on the glass and really tried to control both ends of the floor with my presence, talking and just with my second effort.”

Ayton welcomed Paul back into the line-up in game three when he worked himself inside for the first basket of the game.

“He said, ‘C, you stay out there, I got all this in here,’” Paul said. “And I said, “Alright big fella, you got it. You got it.’ And to see his growth, I get goose bumps, seriously, man.

“We have had some heated conversations this season, especially earlier in the season but I genuinely love him, you know what I’m saying. The person that he is.”

At one point in the fourth quarter, Ayton and the Suns’ will to prevail was extremely tested as they combined with the Clippers to miss 16 shots from the field. It began with 10:13 left in the game and ended with an Ayton dunk with 6:23 remaining.

“I was like, this is finals basketball right here,” Ayton said. “This is really what it is. Like it’s a good shot, but your legs ain’t there. “It looked good, but it ain’t and you just got to stick with it. Keep doing what you do and don’t really react to things like that.”

With the Suns losing shooting guard Devin Booker to six fouls late in the fourth, it came down to free throws that Paul took care of to seal the deal after Paul George tried to defuse things by attempting to hit the first of his two free throws and then hit the next off the rim for the rebound and another shot.

Twice he tried and DeMarcus Cousins also attempted it once, but it backfired each time for the Clippers as Paul converted his free throws for the Suns, coached by Monty Williams.

As a matter of fact, it came down to the final 1.3 seconds on the clock when George also fouled out of the game and Paul clinched the win on his pair of charity shots.

Stay tuned tonight.