LOS ANGELES — Pushing to stay out of the play-in tournament and into an outright playoffs berth, the Phoenix Suns showed the might of their star-studded team.
Devin Booker scored 37 points and Bradley Beal added 26 while Kevin Durant pitched in 24 in an offensive display that carried the visitors to a 124-108 victory at the Crypto.com Arena on Wednesday night.
It was sweet revenge for the Suns, who lost to the Clippers at home in Phoenix, 105-92, just the night before.
The Suns’ victory had post-season implications, guaranteeing that the Golden State Warriors and the L.A. Lakers now have to go through the play-in tournament. The Suns,meanwhile, are seventh in the West, a half-game behind New Orleans for the sixth and final guaranteed playoff spot.
And Booker is loving all of it.
“We’ve been preaching with the play-in that all these games are already playoff games. It’s going to be high intensity, if you lose it’s going to be the worst loss ever. If you win, good win.”
The Suns hit 48.4 percent from the field overall (46-of-95) and 36 percent from 3 (18-of-50) but it required a 23-2 run late to finally extinguish the Clippers.
“I liked how organized we were in the fourth quarter and the commitment to get stops,” Suns coach Frank Vogel said of his team’s resilience. “We knew if we just stayed together and stayed with it we would prevail.”
The Clippers got a welcomed but unexpected performance from Bones Hyland who penciled a career-high 37 points with nine assists. Brandon Boston Jr. added 23 points off the bench.
Despite the defeat, the Clippers have already won the Pacific Division for the first time in 10 years. They could have secured the fourth seed in the West with a win. They know their first-round playoff opponent will be Dallas, which beat Miami earlier Wednesday to set up the matchup.
