LA Clippers: Can they bounce back against the Phoenix Suns?

The LA Clippers find themselves down 0-2 for the third straight playoff series in the 2021 NBA playoffs. The first two series, though, ended with the Clippers winning the best of seven.

They’ve beaten the 5-seed Dallas Mavericks and the 1-seed Utah Jazz. But now they face the 2-seed Phoenix Suns. Will the outcome be different this time?

The LA Clippers are down 0-2 for the third time in the 2021 playoffs, but will they be able to overcome the deficit again?

Well, Game 3 on Thursday will be critical to defining the series. The Clippers have home-court advantage, which they used blissfully in Game 3 and 4 last round. To be fair, they lost three home games in the first round. Nevertheless, the home team typically has the advantage in at least that aspect.

This may play enough of a role to help the Clippers secure a win. However, the key difference between this Game 3 and the past two is that Kawhi Leonard will not be available. The two-time NBA champion and two-time Defensive Player of the Year is out indefinitely with a knee injury.

Leonard dominated in the previous Game 3s. Against the Mavericks, he scored 36 points on 13-of-17 shooting from the field, and against the Jazz, he scored 34 on 14-of-24 from the floor.

Not having that certainly makes the Clippers’ job substantially more difficult. And a lot of that pressure shifts to Paul George. He was able to carry the load in the final games of the Jazz series, but so far, his play — despite it being solid — has not been enough against the Suns.

He’s averaging 30 points across the first two games but is shooting just 40.8 percent from the field. Furthermore, his shining — or rather not-so-shining — moment is missing two clutch free throws with 8.2 seconds remaining. It resulted in the Suns throwing a game-winning inbound alley-oop to Deandre Ayton.

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Despite this blunder, George has been stellar in the two Game 3s also. He scored 29 points on 61.1 percent against the Mavericks and 31 on 50 percent against the Jazz. Without Leonard this time, George will need to play even better to down the Suns on Thursday.

Oh, and to make matters more difficult for the LA Clippers, Chris Paul is expected to return to action after contracting COVID-19, according to Chris Haynes. The Suns are, without a doubt, a better team when Paul plays, yet they still won the first two games without him. If he returns, the Clippers are in serious trouble especially since Leonard will likely be out.

Paul, a 10-time All-NBA performer, is in his first season with Phoenix and has immediately lifted them into title contention alongside Devin Booker and the supporting cast.

If Paul doesn’t return, the Clippers have a chance at winning Game 3. The first two games were tight, so home-court may sway the outcome in Los Angeles’ favor. But if Paul does suit up, consider the series done. The Clippers are great, but the Suns are just better and healthier.

Unless Leonard comes back healthy and dominates as he typically does, the Suns will make the NBA Finals for the first time since 1993.