3 key turning points in Suns' Game 4 win over Clippers

LOS ANGELES — The Phoenix Suns completed a sweep of the Clippers two road games in Los Angeles to take control of their first-round playoff series, 3-1. The series returns to Phoenix Tuesday for Game 5 at 7 p.m., at Footprint Center.

Here are three key turning points from Saturday's 112-100 Phoenix win in Game 4:

Clippers take over to end first quarter

Clippers' coach Tyronn Lue knew the odds were stacked against his team entering Game 4. They were down 2-1 in the series, didn’t have their two All-Stars, Kawhi Leonard (knee) and Paul George (knee).

But Lue discussed in the pregame about the importance of being highly physical, having a good first quarter start in Game 4, like the Clippers did in the previous three games, and believing in Russell Westbrook to lead the charge.

“We definitely believe we can win this game, win this series no matter who’s playing for us,” Lue said.

Westbook was the engine that pushed the Clippers to end the opening period on a 12-4 run to lead the Suns 30-23.

The Suns jumped out to a 16-9 lead on a 7-0 run around the seven minute mark after Chris Paul did an amazing crossover dribble that made Clipper’s Eric Gordon fall hard, then drove the lane before he skipped the ball to Devin Booker who drained his first 3.

After the Clippers called timeout, they tied the game at 16-16 from their own 7-0 run.

Suns coach Monty Williams made his first two substitutions, Landry Shamet for Chris Paul and Josh Okogie for Torrey Craig shortly after the first quarter’s five minute mark.

Then the Suns went cold hitting just one of their final six shots and committed their two first-quarter turnovers. Westbrook scored five of his nine first-quarter points, and Clippers forward Terance Mann came off the bench to spark the offense and defense with two assists, one rebound and a block.

Booker, Durant shine as Suns rise in third quarter

The Kevin and Devin Show put on a shooting clinic in the third quarter that pushed Phoenix to enter the fourth quarter with an 83-78 lead.

Kevin Durant shot 4 of-5 for 12 points, and Devin Booker went 4-of-6 for 11 points and grabbed four rebounds as they ended the third with their respective totals 26 points and 24 points

After Phoenix led at halftime, 48-47, the Clippers went on an 11-2 run through the 10 minutes mark. Russell Westbook continued to will the Clippers to stay ahead 64-60 on his driving dunk, and sent the L.A. crowd into a frenzy as he scored a team-best 10 points in that period.

Then Devin Booker and Kevin Durant hit all four 3-point attempts between them for Phoenix, including Durant's from the top of the key with 14 seconds left, which quieted the crowd.

Westbrook keeps L.A. close, but Paul's hot hand closes it for Suns

Westbrook (game high 37 points) didn't exemplify the egregious "Westbrick" nickname that he despises. In the fourth quarter, he scored six of the Clippers' final nine field goals, including four straight and two 3s between 8:01 and 2:16 left to play.

His third and final triple cut Phoenix's lead to 102-96 at 5:24. But Phoenix went on a 7-0 run thereafter for a 13-point lead, L.A.'s biggest deficit, which was clipped by Chris Paul's wild off-balanced shot after he rebounded Torrey Craig's missed 3-point attempt at 2:58.

Paul scored 12 of his 19 in the fourth.

The Clippers never recovered from there.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: 3 key turning points in Suns Game 4 win over Clippers