The Suns today beat the Lone Rangers 121-114 at home, taking a 1-0 lead. Since returning to the playoffs last season, the Suns have won their first game in six consecutive series.
In today's game, the Suns had led by more than 20 points at most, but in the final quarter, the Lone Ranger kept approaching the point difference until single digits, but the Suns finally resisted and did not let the Lone Ranger complete the reversal.
It is worth mentioning that at the end of the third quarter, the Suns led by 17 points at 96-79. After today's game, the Suns have a 51-0 unbeaten record this season in the lead into the fourth quarter, second only to the Lakers' record of 57 wins and 0 losses in the 19-20 season.
In today's game, Paul played 28 minutes, shooting 7-of-13, 2-of-5 from three-point range, and 19 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists on all three-point range. In the last two games, Paul shot a total of 21 of 27 (14 of 14 in the previous game) and shot 77.7 percent from the field, the highest shooting percentage for a defender in two consecutive games in playoff history.
Paul also scored a 10-game winning streak against the Lone Ranger and Doncic after today's win, and the last time he lost to the Lone Ranger and Doncic was on December 9, 2018, when Paul was still in the Rockets.
Booker was also brilliant today, playing 38 minutes, shooting 7-of-20 from the field, 1-of-5 from three-point range, 8-of-8 from the free throw line, and having 23 points, 9 rebounds and 8 assists. In the first quarter, Booker was 4 of 8, 1 of 2 from three-point range, 4 of 4 from the free throw line, and had 13 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in the single quarter.
Ayton was also very efficient today, playing 33 minutes, shooting 12-of-20, 1-of-1 from the free throw line, and having 25 points and eight rebounds, a team-high score with plus-minus of +10. In the first half, Ayton scored 19 points on 9-of-12 shooting.
Cameron Johnson played 24 minutes off the bench today, shooting 6-of-10, 3-of-6 from three-point range, 2-of-2 from the free throw line, 17 points and 5 rebounds, plus-minus +8.
Doncic was undoubtedly the best player to perform today, playing 44 minutes, shooting 15-of-30, 4-of-11 from three-point range, 11-of-14 from the free throw line, scoring 45 points, 12 rebounds and 8 assists, but still becoming an empty cut, failing to lead the Lone Ranger to complete a reversal and break the Suns' lead into the final quarter of the unbeaten golden body.