Booker, Suns even NBA playoff series with Clippers
Devin Booker recorded 38 points and nine assists, and the Phoenix Suns evened their first-round Western Conference playoff series at one game apiece with a 123-109 victory over the visiting Los Angeles Clippers on Tuesday night.
Kevin Durant added 25 points, six rebounds and five assists as Phoenix rebounded from a Game 1 home loss. Kawhi Leonard registered 31 points, eight rebounds, seven assists and three steals and Russell Westbrook added 28 points for the Clippers. Game 3 of the best-of-seven series is tonight in Los Angeles, Reuters reported.
The Clippers trailed by 13 points early in the fourth quarter, but Leonard made a 3-pointer and Westbrook sank two free throws to bring them within 115-109 with 3:13 left. But Los Angeles wouldn't score again.
Chris Paul made a high-arching jumper, fed Deandre Ayton for a layup and then drilled a jumper from the top of the key to give the Suns a 121-109 lead with 2:01 remaining. Bismack Biyombo scored on a tip-in with 31.8 seconds left to account for a game-high 14-point lead as Phoenix closed it out.
Elsewhere, Jayson Tatum led five scorers in double figures with 29 points as Boston Celtics grabbed a 2-0 lead in its Eastern Conference first-round playoff series with a 119-106 win over visiting Atlanta Hawks.
Tatum added 10 rebounds and six assists to lead the Boston offense. Derrick White added 26 points, including 14 in the fourth quarter. After Atlanta took an 11-point lead on De'Andre Hunter's 3-pointer with 5:42 left in the first quarter, Boston outscored the Hawks 50-27 for the remainder of the first half and, for the most part, cruised from there.
Meanwhile, Donovan Mitchell and Evan Mobley each posted double-doubles and Darius Garland helped key a decisive second-quarter surge for host Cleveland Cavaliers, which evened its Eastern Conference quarterfinal series with New York Knicks with a 107-90 victory in Game 2.
Mitchell, the seventh-leading scorer in the NBA this season at 28.3 points per game, had just 17 points Tuesday but collected a career-high 13 assists. Mobley had 13 points and 13 rebounds while Garland scored 32 points, including 26 in the first half.