Kawhi Leonard poured in 38 points during his first playoff game in 22 months to lead the Los Angeles Clippers to a 115-110 victory over the host Phoenix Suns on Sunday night in Game 1 of their Western Conference first-round series.
Leonard was 13 of 24 from the field and added five rebounds and five assists in his first postseason contest since tearing the ACL in his right knee against the Utah Jazz in June 2021. Eric Gordon added 19 points for the fifth-seeded Clippers.
Devin Booker scored 26 points, Torrey Craig added 22 and Deandre Ayton had 18 points and eight rebounds for the Suns.With the Clippers leading by three, Russell Westbrook blocked the shot of a driving Booker and then leaped to get the ball and slam it off Booker's left leg and out of bounds with 10.1 seconds left to give Los Angeles possession. Gordon sealed the contest with two free throws with 7.9 seconds left.
Leonard made two 3-pointers and Gordon added one during a 9-4 run that gave Los Angeles a 109-103 lead with 1:33 left. But Durant buried a trey and Chris Paul made two free throws as the Suns pulled within 109-108 with 1:08 remaining. The Suns made 47.6 percent of their field-goal attempts, including 6 of 19 from 3-point range. Paul had 11 rebounds and 10 assists but tallied just seven points.The Suns recovered from a 16-point, second-quarter deficit to trail 59-54 at the half.
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