National Basketball Association

NBA playoffs: Top moments from Phoenix Suns vs. LA Clippers Game 6

Updated Jul. 1, 2021 12:15 a.m. ET

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We have our first entrant to this year's NBA Finals.

Sporting a 3-2 series lead in the Western Conference finals entering Wednesday's game, the Phoenix Suns visited the LA Clippers with a chance to book passage to the Finals for the first time since 1993.

Behind a masterful, 41-point performance from Chris Paul, the Suns did just that with a 130-103 win in Game 6.

Paul shot 16-for-24 from the field and hit seven of his eight 3-point attempts, leading the team with eight assists.

Devin Booker poured in 22 for Phoenix, and Deandre Ayton recorded another double-double with 16 points and 17 boards.

For the Clippers, Paul George was kept relatively quiet, with 21 points on 6-for-15 shooting. Marcus Morris Sr. led the way for LA with 26 points, but the effort wasn't enough, as the resilient Clippers were officially eliminated.

Here are the top moments from Game 6 at Staples Center:

Prior to tipoff, the Suns had a surprise name pop up on the health report due to a non-COVID illness: Cameron Johnson.

Johnson hasn't started in any of Phoenix's games on this playoff run, but the valuable swingman off the bench was shooting 70% from the field against the Clippers, averaging 10.8 points and 4.0 rebounds in 23.8 minutes per game off the bench.

After going a dismal 2-for-16 from distance in his first three games played in the Western Conference finals, Paul canned a pair of 3-pointers as the Suns ran out to an early 15-9 lead.

For more up-to-date news on all things Suns, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

But the Clippers — Patrick Beverley in particular — continued to do what they've done most of this series: lean on their defense to kickstart their offense.

Booker got cooking with nine first-quarter points, and the Suns fed Ayton early and often. The Suns' big man led all scorers in the first, with 10 points on 5-for-6 shooting.

Speaking of big men, DeMarcus Cousins closed the quarter with a buzzer-beating triple that banked in off the glass for LA.

Both teams shot well in the first quarter. The Clippers hit on 50% of their field goals, while Phoenix buried 63.6% of its attempts to hold a narrow, 33-29 lead after the opening 12 minutes.

For more up-to-date news on all things Clippers, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

In the second, Beverley put Paul on skates to score a silky layup to give him nine points at the time. He finished the first half with 11 points.

Meanwhile, Booker got up big time for a thunderous dunk at the 5:23 mark, putting him past the double-digit threshold for points scored.

In a surprise twist, Jae Crowder led all scorers at the break, with 16 points on 5-for-8 shooting. He also drilled four of his six attempts from deep after shooting just 26.9% from beyond the arc in the first five games of the series.

Crowder's contributions helped boost the Suns to a 66-57 lead after the first half.

If you thought Booker's flush from the first half was authoritative, wait until you see what he had in store in the third quarter.

That dunk gave the Suns a 13-point lead, tied at the time for their largest of the game, and forced a timeout from the Clippers.

In the same quarter, Crowder picked up his fourth foul, forcing Suns coach Monty Williams to give a few extra minutes to Torrey Craig.

Craig answered the call, collecting rebounds, forcing a steal and contributing offensively in his limited action.

But despite the salvo from Phoenix, the Clips were not going to roll over.  LA buckled down on defense and delivered on the offensive end, putting together a 10-0 run to get within seven.

The Suns answered back to close out the quarter, however.

Paul took over for Phoenix, scoring the last eight points of the quarter for the Suns to make it 97-83 heading into the fourth.

In the game's final frame, Paul picked up where he left off.

After Ayton score his 14th point of the game with a hook shot, Paul rattled off six points to bump Phoenix's advantage to 105-85.

The game wasn't going in the direction George and the Clippers envisioned, but he did have a highlight-reel-level shake of Paul to ease the pain.

Paul shook off the broken ankles, though, and kept pouring in buckets for the Suns.

A flashpoint came with just less than six minutes to go, as Beverley was ejected from the game for shoving Paul in the back after the Suns point guard hit a pull-up triple for his 37th point of the game.

After the dust settled, Paul hit a few more to finish with 41 points before the Suns emptied the bench with the game out of reach.

It's the first Finals appearance for Paul and the third in Suns franchise history. 

If Paul and the Suns can win four more games, it'll be history made for both parties.

For more up-to-date news on all things NBA, click here to register for alerts on the FOX Sports app!

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National Basketball Association

Phoenix Suns

LA Clippers

Paul George

Devin Booker

Chris Paul

Reggie Jackson

NBA - LA Clippers vs. Phoenix Suns - 06/29/2021

Patrick Beverley

DeMarcus Cousins

Jae Crowder

Torrey Craig

Deandre Ayton