'Resilient' Westbrook impresses Suns as Clippers drop Game 4

LOS ANGELES — Russell Westbrook took an inbound pass along the baseline, squared up and stared at Kevin Durant before attacking and scoring a hard-earned driving layup on the Phoenix Suns star at the rim.

Westbrook did everything he could for the LA Clippers in the fourth quarter, scoring 14 of his 37 points in the final 10 minutes. But Westbrook's best game with his latest team was not enough to stop the Suns from leaving Los Angeles with a 112-100 win in Game 4 and a commanding 3-1 lead in this best-of-seven series.

After the game, Durant defended his former Oklahoma City Thunder teammate and took aim at Westbrook's critics.

«People going to always criticize when you're successful and doing your thing for this long,» Durant said of Westbrook. «Russ has been resilient his whole life. He comes to work, doesn't say much. Just come hoop.»

Durant believes that people will not truly appreciate Westbrook until he is done playing.

«When he retires, people are going to really tell the truth about his game,» Durant said. «Right now, the fun thing to do is to make a joke out of Russ. But the way he's been playing since he got with the Clippers is showing everybody who he really is.»

With Kawhi Leonard (right knee sprain) and Paul George (right knee sprain) both out and their return in doubt, the Clippers' hopes of keeping their season alive rest on Westbrook's shoulders heading into Game 5.

It was only a couple of months ago when Westbrook was looking for a new home after the Los Angeles Lakers traded him to Utah, which bought the point guard out of his contract. Westbrook was often criticized during his season and a half with the Lakers as LeBron James, Anthony Davis and Westbrook were a poor fit.

Before the Clippers signed