The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 84-80 in Game 4, taking a 3-1 series lead.

Chris Paul, who finished with 18 points and seven assists, wasn't ready to look ahead at the NBA Finals.

"Not until the job is done. Not until the job is done," said Paul. "We can talk about all that then, but right now, it's just laser focus. Three wins don't win the series, so right now, we did what we came here to do. We wanted to get one of these, and now we got to stay focused and be ready to go back to our crowd."

Deandre Ayton added 19 points, 22 rebounds, and four blocks in the game. 

Ayton praised Paul's impact on his career afterwards.

"I love CP, man. That's really the only teammate that really pushed me. Like big-bro-type push. I think he was the best thing that happened to my career. I can say that every day," said Ayton.

Monty Williams also kept his perspective in the series, saying that the Suns will need to improve to beat a desperate Clippers team in Game 5.

"Yes, we are one win away from where we want to go, but we got to look at the film, prepare even better and, step by step, pound the rock over the next couple of days so that we can be better when we play this team again, because we know we're going to see a desperate team."

Cameron Payne will play in Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals, sources told Dave McMenamin of ESPN.

Payne played just four minutes in Game 3 after turning his left ankle. 

Payne finished with a career-high 29 points and 9 assists in Game 2. 

Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals averaged 5.3 million viewers, which was up 36% from last season.

The Clippers beat the Suns 106-92 in the game.

It was the most watched telecast of the night on television, winning every key and male demographic.

The game also drew a 14.7 rating in Phoenix, which was the highest since 2010. 

Phoenix Suns forward Abdel Nader is expected to be available for Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals. 

Nader had a knee procedure in April.

Nader is averaging 6.7 points while shooting 41.9% from three this season. 

Chris Paul has been officially made available to play for the Phoenix Suns in Game 3.

Paul missed Games 1 and 2 due to him being in the NBA's COVID-19 protocols. 

The Suns lead the best of seven series against the Los Angeles Clippers 2-0.

The Philadelphia 76ers had no intention of trading Mikal Bridges when they drafted him at No. 10 overall at the 2018 NBA draft, multiple sources tell The Athletic.

The 76ers entered the draft, run by Brett Brown shortly after Bryan Colangelo resigned in the wake of a social media scandal, with Bridges and Zhaire Smith next to each other on their board. Bridges was the favorite of the coaching staff while the team's scouts preferred Smith. The organization settled on Bridges as the better option of the two.

When Bridges received a call from a member of the Philadelphia front office that he was their pick at No. 10, there was no indication he would play anywhere but the same city had played in high school and college.

The Phoenix Suns, however, hoped to make a deal for Bridges. The Suns tried to trade up with the Cleveland Cavaliers at No. 8 and the New York Knicks at No. 9, but both teams said no. The 76ers did as well but their denial was softer. Phoenix was trying to trade up for either Bridges or Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. 

The 76ers were interested in acquiring an unprotected first round pick from the Miami Heat that the Suns owned, which Phoenix eventually included in their offer about a minute before the pick at No. 16 was due.

The trade was a rare one in which a draft night deal was made on the fly.

“It doesn’t,” one league source said. “Usually it’s pre-arranged; 95 percent of the time it’s pre-arranged.”

While Smith didn't work out for the 76ers, the Miami pick eventually allowed them to acquire Tobias Harris.

“When Mikal got that hat and walked across the stage I think he thought, and the 76ers thought, that he was going to be a Philadelphia 76er,” Ryan McDonough said. “That was the plan at the time. But the plan changed.”

Chris Paul is expected to be cleared for Game 3 of the Western Conference Finals.

Paul underwent a cardio exam Wednesday morning and passed, which is the final step to clearing the league’s health and safety protocols. Paul has been in the NBA's protocols since June 16th.

Paul tested positive for COVID-19 last week despite having been vaccinated. Paul found out he tested positive upon arriving in Los Angeles after the Western Conference Semifinals. Paul is not sure how he contracted the virus.

The final 90 seconds of Game 2 of the Western Conference Finals took 33 real time minutes as the Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers by a final score of 104-103.

There were as many reviews (five) as field goals (five) during that span.

The last 9.2 seconds of the game took 20 minutes to complete.

The Phoenix Suns are optimistic Chris Paul will be cleared from the NBA's COVID-19 protocols and cleared for Game 3.

Tuesday marked the sixth day that Paul remained isolated from the team because of the NBA's COVID-19 mandates.

Paul is currently asymptomatic and spending his time away from the Suns in Los Angeles. 

Monty Williams was asked before Game 2 if Paul, who is officially listed as day-to-day, would need any sort of ramp up in order to play once he's cleared.

"We don't have the luxury of waiting on anybody right now. These games are so important. Every practice, every film session," Williams said. "We certainly would see where he's at when that time comes, but that's hard to make that judgment just because COVID is so different. You have COVID and the playoffs, you know what I mean? It's not COVID and the regular season.

"I'm sure if I tried to keep Chris out of the game, we'd have to square off and go toe-to-toe. So we'll just make that assessment when the time comes."

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Los Angeles Clippers 120-114 in Game 1 of the Western Conference Finals to take a 1-0 series lead.

Devin Booker, who finished the game with 40 points, 13 rebounds, and 11 assists, dedicated the win to Chris Paul.

"We put him on FaceTime. He's our leader. We lean on him for a lot," said Booker. "We know how disappointed he is and frustrated he is he couldn't be out here for Game 1 of the Western Conference finals, especially knowing his past history around this time. But we had him all the way through. We brought him in the locker room, had him in our after-game huddle. He's proud of us. He's ready to get back, he's working and we can't wait to have him."

Paul missed Game 1 due to COVID-19 protocols. He is reportedly symptom-free and hoping to return early in the series. 

Monty Williams praised Booker for not forcing his shots and getting his points within the offense.

"He didn't inject himself into the game. He just did it out of what we do. There are times where a guy scores and you just want to go grab the ball and jack up a shot. I thought the way Devin did it tonight was within our scheme and what we do," said Williams.

Booker added that the Suns were extra careful of taking care of the ball without Paul.

The Suns finished with only seven turnovers in the game. 

"I've been alongside him all season and watching him control the game and how he never turns the ball over. When he does it's a rare sight. We knew that was going to be a key for us, taking care of the ball."