LOS ANGELES — The Clippers took a timeout a little past midway through the fourth quarter, with Ty Lue putting together a game plan held together by duct tape, a resurgent superstar and probably the Almighty against a Phoenix Suns team he desperately wanted to exploit.
Russell Westbrook was continuing his unexpected rebirth, an exhausting whirling dervish on both ends. But across the way, Kevin Durant, Devin Booker and Chris Paul were hitting shot after shot to help the favored Suns pull away to take a 3-1 lead in the first round of the NBA playoffs with a 112-100 win at Crypto.