Kawhi Leonard sat out once again in Game 4 of this Western Conference Finals series and as of right now, with there being no indications of the NBA superstar returning anytime soon, the Clippers’ season may be coming to an end. They gave a valiant effort in Game 4 and came back from being down by 16 points, but Phoenix was too much for them to handle once again as the Suns escaped Los Angeles with an 84-80 win.
Now, Phoenix leads this Western Conference Finals series 3-1 and are one game away from reaching the NBA Finals for the first-time since 1993! Game 4 was definitely interesting late in the fourth quarter, as the Clippers came within one point of the Suns numerous times, but from start to finish, Phoenix led this game and came out on top.
There are a ton of storylines to talk about with this game, but none are bigger than Kawhi Leonard being out. He has not played in a single game against the Suns in this series with a right knee injury and has not played in a playoff game for the Clippers since Game 4 against the Utah Jazz on June 14.
Once again, Leonard sat in a suite in Staples Center and all indications are that he will miss the remainder of the Western Conference Finals. Playing without their leader certainly limits what the Clippers could do in this series, but just because they are down 3-1 does not necessarily mean they are done just yet.
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We have seen teams come back from trailing in series before in these playoffs and Los Angeles is used to playing from behind, as they won their previous two series against the Mavericks and Jazz after trailing 0-2 in both of these series. Being down 3-1 is a different scenario, but if you are expecting this Clippers team to just keel over and die, you have another thing coming!
They are going to fight til the final buzzer and Game 4 was an excellent example of this. Defensively, the Clippers have looked really strong and they have seemed to get the Suns out of their comfort zone, so Game 5 should definitely be an intriguing matchup to watch and see if the Clippers can keep their season alive. Until then, let’s look back on the Suns’ Game 4 victory and evaluate the three biggest takeaways from this one.
