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NBA Playoffs: Suns, Pelicans last teams in position to get swept after Lakers finally top Nuggets

duane rankin, arizona republic
·2 min read

The Phoenix Suns and New Orleans Pelicans are the last two teams in position to get swept in this year's NBA playoffs after the Los Angeles Lakers avoided elimination with Saturday's 119-108 Game 4 home win over the defending NBA champion Denver Nuggets.

Every playoff team has won at least one game in their respective series except the sixth-seeded Suns and eighth-seeded Pelicans. The Suns are down 3-0 to the third-seeded Minnesota Timberwolves going into Sunday's Game 4 while the Pelicans are down 3-0 to the No. 1-seeded Thunder heading into Monday's Game 4 in New Orleans.

If Phoenix wins Sunday at Footprint Center, Game 5 is Tuesday in Minneapolis and if New Orleans wins Monday, Game 5 is Wednesday in Oklahoma City.

The seventh-seeded Lakers will play Game 5 on Monday at second-seeded Denver. The Nuggets had won 11 consecutive games over the Lakers counting the playoffs before Saturday's loss.

Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) looks up at the scoreboard as the Timberwolves pull away during Game 3 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Footprint Center.
Suns forward Kevin Durant (35) looks up at the scoreboard as the Timberwolves pull away during Game 3 of the first round of the NBA Playoffs at the Footprint Center.

No NBA team has come back from a 0-3 deficit to win an series. NBA teams are 151-0 in advancing to the next round after taking a 3-0 lead.

Only four teams have forced a Game 7 with Boston being the last one to do so last season. A second seed, the Celtics came back from a 3-0 deficit against the eighth-seeded Miami to tie the series only two lose Game 7 at home in the Eastern Conference finals.

The Suns were last swept in the playoffs in 1999 when losing to Portland in the first round.

Phoenix may be without Grayson Allen for Game 4. The NBA's top 3-point shooter missed Friday's game with a right ankle sprain. He sprained his ankle in the third quarter of Game 1 and Game 2 and didn't return in either one.

Allen is listed as questionable for Sunday's Game 4.

Have opinions about the current state of the Suns? Reach Suns Insider Duane Rankin at dmrankin@gannett.com or contact him at 480-787-1240. Follow him on X, formerly Twitter, at @DuaneRankin.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Suns, Pels last teams in position to get swept after Lakers Game 4 win