{"id":273844,"date":"2021-06-14T06:21:46","date_gmt":"2021-06-14T03:21:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/suns-sweep-nuggets-to-reach-west-finals-after-tempers-flare\/"},"modified":"2021-06-14T06:21:46","modified_gmt":"2021-06-14T03:21:46","slug":"suns-sweep-nuggets-to-reach-west-finals-after-tempers-flare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/suns-sweep-nuggets-to-reach-west-finals-after-tempers-flare\/","title":{"rendered":"#Suns sweep Nuggets to reach West finals after tempers flare"},"content":{"rendered":"

“#Suns sweep Nuggets to reach West finals after tempers flare<\/strong>”<\/p>\n

\n

DENVER (AP) \u2014 Chris Paul couldn\u2019t miss. Devin Booker couldn\u2019t be stopped.<\/p>\n

The Phoenix Suns roared into the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 11 years Sunday night with a testy 125-118 victory over Denver that completed a four-game<\/a> sweep.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets? Well, they went down fighting.<\/p>\n

Paul scored 37 points and Booker added 34 in a physical game marred by MVP Nikola Jokic\u2019s ejection for a flagrant foul in the third quarter.<\/p>\n

Jokic was tossed with 3:52 left in the third and his Nuggets trailing 83-76 after his hard right-hand windmill swipe sent the ball flying but also caught Cameron Payne in the face.<\/p>\n

Jokic said he meant only to commit a hard foul on Payne to spark his team.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy,\u201d Jokic said. \u201cI tried to make a hard foul. Did I hit him? I didn\u2019t know. I say sorry if I did because I didn\u2019t want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n

Booker took umbrage at the hard foul and got in the big man\u2019s face before teammates and coaches pulled everyone apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just an emotional play,\u201d Booker said. \u201cI don\u2019t think he meant harm by it. It was just a frustration foul. It was tough, just defending my teammate. That was it.<\/p>\n

\u201cI saw him go up to Cam after and apologize. I\u2019ve played against the Joker multiple times. I know he\u2019s not a malicious player.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Suns\"
Nikola Jokic is held back from Devin Booker after a play that would result in Jokic\u2019s ejection in Game 4 on Sunday night.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Officials assessed a double technical on Jokic and Booker and after a review, ejected the MVP after upgrading his foul to a Flagrant 2. Jokic finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.<\/p>\n

Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he watched the play while the officials reviewed the call \u201cand I just assumed it would be a Flagrant 1 at the worst.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t feel like it warranted a Flagrant 2 ejection because he\u2019s making a play on the ball,\u201d Malone said. \u201cThere\u2019s marginal contact to Cameron Payne\u2019s nose, I believe. So, I was shocked. I\u2019m still a little bit shocked that they called a Flagrant 2 and ejected the MVP on such a play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Suns coach Monty Williams also was taken aback.\u201cI didn\u2019t really think it was anything malicious,\u201d Williams said. \u201cIn those moments you have to regulate your emotions. That\u2019s what we\u2019ve been talking about all season long.\u201d<\/p>\n

With their franchise-record seventh straight playoff victory, the Suns advanced to the conference championship for the first time since 2010 \u2014 the last time they even reached the playoffs.<\/p>\n

After knocking out LeBron James and the defending champion Lakers in Round 1, the Suns quickly dispatched Denver and made Jokic the first MVP to get swept in a playoff series<\/a> since Magic Johnson in 1989.<\/p>\n

Will Barton led Denver, which trailed by 13 heading into the fourth quarter, with 25 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 20 and Monte Morris 19.<\/p>\n

The Nuggets survived the loss of star Jamal Murray to a torn ACL on April 12, winning 13 of 18 to close out the regular season and taking care of Portland in five games in the opening round.<\/p>\n

They went farther than any of last year\u2019s semifinalists, but they sorely missed Murray against the loaded Suns.<\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully we can start next season fresh and healthy as possible to make another run at this thing,\u201d Malone said.<\/p>\n

Every time the Nuggets made a run, Paul was there to stop it. His 37-point outburst was one more than his age and marked his best production in three years.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a great series for him,\u201d Morris said. \u201cSalute to Chris Paul. He played amazing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe always had an answer for everything we tried,\u201d Facundo Compazzo added.<\/p>\n

Booker credited Paul and his veteran leadership for transforming the Suns from an up-and-coming team in the bubble last year to a championship contender this summer.<\/p>\n

\"Paul\"
Chris Paul scored 37 points for the Suns in Game 4.<\/figcaption>
Getty Images<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cYou can ask anybody on this team how has Chris developed your game and everybody\u2019s going to have a lengthy answer because he cares,\u201d Booker said.<\/p>\n

Thanks in large part to Paul, Jokic became the first MVP to get swept in a playoff series since the Pistons downed Magic Johnson and the Lakers in four in the NBA Finals in 1989.<\/p>\n

Jokic\u2019s ejection came 48 hours after an emotional celebration before Game 3 in which the Serbian dedicated his MVP trophy to his teammates, coaches, trainers and the front office.<\/p>\n

The only NBA player to play all 72 games this season, Jokic spent the fourth quarter in his locker room as his teammates\u2019 comeback without him fell short.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve never been in that position all season with Nikola not being out there,\u201d Morris said not long after fans streamed from the arena chanting \u201cMVP! MVP!\u201d\n <\/p><\/div>\n

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Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“#Suns sweep Nuggets to reach West finals after tempers flare” DENVER (AP) \u2014 Chris Paul couldn\u2019t miss. Devin Booker couldn\u2019t be stopped. The Phoenix Suns roared into the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 11 years Sunday night with a testy 125-118 victory over Denver that completed a four-game sweep. The Nuggets? Well,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":273845,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/06\/1233441821.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1200","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[109225,70380,70381,106181,105147,88404],"class_list":["post-273844","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-6-13-21","tag-denver-nuggets","tag-nba-playoffs","tag-nba-playoffs-2021","tag-nikola-jokic","tag-phoenix-suns"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273844","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=273844"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/273844\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/273845"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=273844"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=273844"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=273844"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}