CHRIS Paul scored 37 points, Devin Booker had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and the visiting Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 125-118 on Sunday night (Monday in Manila) to sweep the best-of-7 Western Conference semifinal series.
Nuggets star Nikola Jokic, the NBA MVP, was given a flagrant 2 foul and ejected late in the third quarter. He finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds.
Mikal Bridges scored 14 points, Deandre Ayton had 12 points and Jae Crowder had 10 rebounds and four blocks to go with nine points for the Suns, who reached the conference finals for the first time in 11 years.
Will Barton had 25 points, Michael Porter Jr. scored 20, Monte Morris finished with 19 and Facu Campazzo 14 for Denver.
The Nuggets struggled in the third quarter of the first three games but came out strong after halftime Sunday night. Porter hit a 3-pointer to cut an eight-point deficit to 71-70 with 7:46 left.
Things turned soon after. Paul made a trio of midrange jumpers to keep Phoenix in the lead, and after Ayton’s alley-oop on a pass from Booker put the Suns ahead 83-75, tempers flared.
Jokic missed a 12-footer and then took a hard swipe at the ball after Cameron Payne got the rebound. Booker went chest-to-chest with Jokic as officials, players and coaches separated the two. Jokic was hit with the flagrant-2 foul and was ejected with 3:52 left.
He went over and shook Payne’s hand as he left the court.
In the other game, Giannis Antetokounmpo collected 34 points and 12 rebounds as the host Milwaukee Bucks rolled to a 107-96 victory in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference semifinals over the Brooklyn Nets, who lost All-Star guard Kyrie Irving to a sprained right ankle.
