Suns’ Chris Paul gives props to defense for dominant stretch in Game 4

Following the Suns victory against the Los Angeles Clippers in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals on Saturday, point guard Chris Paul echoed the importance of the team’s defense as the game came down to the wire.

Near the start of the fourth quarter, neither team scored a basket for nearly four minutes as the Suns clung to a 71-70 lead.

“I kept saying ‘we need to get a bucket’. ‘We need to get a bucket’ ya’ll our defense held us down,” Paul said. “Our defense held us down.”

The Suns defense ‘held it down’ as the Clippers only scored 14 points in the final quarter of Game 4.

“That’s a championship team right there,” Paul told his teammates postgame.

Fourth quarter
Clippers: 3-of-19 FG
Suns: 4-of-19 FG pic.twitter.com/xFPJLeHKYh

— Anthony Slater (@anthonyVslater) June 27, 2021

Los Angeles missed seven straight shots starting at the 10:07 mark in the fourth quarter, not scoring their next bucket until Reggie Jackson got to the free throw line with six minutes left in the game.

Phoenix during that time were also held scoreless until Deandre Ayton broke Phoenix’s silence with an alley-oop from Paul to give the Suns a 73-70 lead with 6:23 left in the game.

The important play of the defense in that crucial stretch allowed the Suns to win the game 84-80 and have the team one win away from their first NBA Finals appearance since the 1992-1993 season.

Tipoff for Game 5 in Phoenix on Monday is 6 p.m.

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