Booker brilliance as Suns sink Clippers, Celtics dominant

LOS ANGELES: Devin Booker led a second-half rally as the Phoenix Suns came from behind to defeat the Los Angeles Clippers 123-109 and level their Western Conference playoff series 1-1 on Tuesday.

Booker scored 18 points in the third quarter before finishing with a 38-point haul to complete a battling comeback by Phoenix, who had trailed by 13 in the second quarter against the Kawhi Leonard-inspired Clippers.

The Clippers stunned Phoenix at home in Game 1 on Sunday and appeared to be well on their way to taking a commanding 2-0 series lead after surging into a 49-36 lead with just over five minutes remaining in the second quarter.

But Kevin Durant, veteran Chris Paul and Booker sparked into life for Phoenix in the closing minutes of the first half to erase the Clippers lead, and Booker drained a 27-foot three-pointer on the stroke of halftime to make it a tie game at 59-59 at the break.

Booker then took over with a flurry of scoring in the third quarter to fire Phoenix into a 92-87 lead heading into the final quarter.

Durant finished with 25 points while Paul chipped in with 16 to help see Phoenix home as the series heads to Los Angeles for Game 3 on Thursday.

“We wanted to protect home court in game two, we got one, and now we’re off to LA,” Booker said afterwards.

“It’s the playoffs, it’s win at all costs — doesn’t matter what happened these past two games. You’ve got to move on to the next one — it’s a new assignment for us.”

Leonard led the scoring for the Clippers with 31 points, eight rebounds and seven assists while Russell Westbrook had 28 points.

In other playoff action, Jayson Tatum starred as the Boston Celtics took a 2-0 series lead over the Atlanta Hawks while Darius Garland delivered a 32-point gem