The conference finals have been the most defensive-minded series of the playoffs for the Clippers thus far. Despite the Suns ranking as the sixth-best offense during the regular season, the Clippers have mucked up this series, starting the game with their best defensive lineups and turning the contests into slugfests.
It’s a strategy that runs in direct opposition to how the Clippers succeeded in the first two rounds. The team still defended at a high level, but the Clippers did that by going small and switching, rather than running a conventional pick-and-roll defense, as they have for much of this round.