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Chris Paul, Phoenix Suns sweep the Denver Nuggets; advance to the Western Conference Finals

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Mark J. Rebilas-USA TODAY Sports

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What a season it’s been for Chris “Point God” Paul and the Phoenix Suns. On Sunday, the #2 seed in the West swept the Denver Nuggets 4-0 to advance to the Western Conference Finals. 

In the four-game series, the Suns were led by their two all-stars Paul and Devin Booker. In a much-improved series compared to his first round, Paul finished with monster averages of 25.5 PPG, 10.3 AST, and 5.0 REB. In addition, the 24-year-old Booker finished with averages of 25.3 PPG, 4.5 AST, and 7.8 REB.

Unfortunately, this postseason has been plagued by injuries to major stars, and one could argue Phoenix is the team that has benefited the most. Prior to the Suns-Nuggets second-round series, the Nuggets lost their star point guard Jamal Murray to a season-ending ACL tear.

Nuggets guards Will Barton and P.J. Dozier missed the majority of the playoffs, and forward Michael Porter Jr. suffered a back strain in Game 3 against the Suns. All of these injuries depleted the team’s roster, placing more pressure on Nuggets’ forward Nikola Jokic to play well. 

Jokic, who was recently named the 2020-2021 NBA MVP, held up his end of the bargain in the Nuggets first-round series against Portland, but ultimately was not able to do the same against Phoenix. He finished the Phoenix series with averages of 25.0 points, 13.3 rebounds, and 5.8 assists, but struggled to dominate his matchup against the Sun’s Deandre Ayton, who defended the MVP very well.

In a controversial bit of frustration, Jokic was ejected from the final Game 4 for a flagrant 2 foul against Cameron Payne:

The Phoenix Suns will now face the winner of the second-round series between the Utah Jazz and the Los Angeles Clippers. In his 16-year career, Paul has only ever advanced to the conference finals twice, the previous time back in 2018 as a member of the Houston Rockets. After Game 4 (where he finished with 37 points and 7 assists) he spoke with TNT’s Chris Haynes:

“A couple years ago, they was writing me off. You can’t do this. This ain’t about me, it’s about us.”

It’s all about the Phoenix Suns now, as they look to capture their first championship in franchise history. 

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