Russell Westbrook had one of the craziest playoff games of all time.
Westbrook shot 3-19 but was a beast in every other aspect of the game. He hit clutch free throws and then made the defensive play of the game to seal the victory over the Suns.
Leonard poured in 38 points, including two late 3-pointers, while Westbrook was a menace everywhere except the scoring column. The veteran guard shot just 3 of 19 from the field, but finished with nine points, 10 rebounds, eight assists, three blocks and two steals.
“My whole career, I pride myself every season on doing everything,” Westbrook said. “Whatever is needed of me to win the game, I’ll do it.”
That’s exactly what happened in the final 30 seconds. Westbrook made a pair of free throws with 17.7 seconds left for a three-point lead, then blocked Devin Booker’s layup attempt at the other end and swatted the ball off Booker to give the Clippers the ball with 10.1 seconds remaining.
Eric Gordon added 19 points and hit a late 3 that kept the Clippers ahead.
Kevin Durant scored 27 points for the Suns, who lost for the first time with him on the floor. Phoenix acquired the two-time NBA Finals MVP from Brooklyn in February, and injuries limited him to eight games — all Suns wins.
Devin Booker added 26 points for Phoenix, which will try to avoid falling into a 2-0 hole at home on Tuesday.
The Suns trailed 109-103 with 1:33 remaining but scored the next five points. The Clippers grabbed multiple offensive rebounds on the ensuing possession before Westbrook made his critical free throws.
“Making winning plays, getting deflections on balls, offensive rebounding, getting us into our sets — that is playoff basketball,” Leonard said. “You might not have the best night shooting, but you’ve got to impact the game some type of way and he did that tonight.”
In the middle of all that, Westbrook had time to confront a Suns fan in a suite during halftime to tell him to watch his f*cking mouth.
Here is the video.
@wojespn Seems reasonable for a halftime fan engagement pic.twitter.com/77F82mXMDh
— Blake Christopher (@BCH66223) April 17, 2023
