Devin Booker starred as the Phoenix Suns overcame an opening defeat to beat the LA Clippers 123-109 in the second home game of their play-off series.
Booker scored 38 points and nine assists as the Suns rallied from 13 points down in the second quarter to tie the best-of-seven series 1-1.
“It’s the play-offs, it’s win at all costs,” said Booker, before Thursday’s third match in the Western Conference encounter.
“We got one and now we are off to LA.”
The Suns, who finished the regular season fourth, one place above the Clippers, opened with a disappointing 115-110 defeat in front of their home fans.
They looked on course for a second damaging defeat in Phoenix as Kawhi Leonard – who finished with 31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals – inspired the Clippers into a 49-36 lead.
But Kevin Durant, Chris Paul and Booker sparked the Suns into life with a scoring burst to send the teams in level at half-time.
Booker added 18 points in the third quarter as the Suns took control, while Durant finished with 25 points, six rebounds and five assists and Paul made 16 points to help close out the game after the Clippers closed back to within six points in the final quarter.
“It’s tough. You always want to protect home court [when starting with two home games] but they came out, started the game really well and we were fighting an uphill battle for the rest of the game,” added Booker.
“But it doesn’t matter what the stats look like, it doesn’t matter what happened these past two games, you have got to move on to the next one – it’s a new assignment for us now.”
In the Eastern Conference, second seeds the Boston Celtics opened up a 2-0 lead over the Atlanta Hawks with a 119-106 victory as Jayson Tatum led five scorers in double figures with 29 points.
The Cleveland Cavaliers bounced back after losing their opener at home to the New York Knicks, levelling the series 1-1 with a convincing 107-90 victory.
Darius Garland scored 26 points in a decisive first-half surge for the Cavaliers, finishing with 32. Donovan Mitchell weighed in with 17 points and a career-high 13 assists, and Evan Mobley made 13 points and 13 rebounds for the dominant home side, who finished the regular season one place ahead of the Knicks in fourth.
Warriors without suspended Green
Draymond Green will miss the Golden State Warriors’ third play-off match against the Sacramento Kings on Thursday after being given a one-match suspension for stamping on the Kings’ Domantas Sabonis.
The NBA said the suspension “was based in part on Green’s history of unsportsmanlike acts”.
Green was suspended from last season’s play-off series against the Memphis Grizzlies after clashing with Brandon Clarke, and missed game five of the 2016 NBA Finals against the Cleveland Cavaliers for a low blow against LeBron James.
Defending NBA champions the Warriors trail the Kings 2-0 in the best-of-seven series.
