The Phoenix Suns punched their ticket to the NBA Finals on Wednesday night with a blowout Game 6 win over the Los Angeles Clippers. While L.A. fought admirably throughout the series, they ultimately ran out of gas on their home court, and as a result, the team’s sights will be set on making the Finals for the first time in 2022.
Of course, their inability to win this series comes with one gigantic disclaimer: Kawhi Leonard was unable to play. After suffering a knee injury against the Utah Jazz in the previous round, Leonard watched as the Clippers scratched and clawed and did everything they could to come out on top in his absence.
Paul George believes this was the difference between L.A. losing and getting to play for the Larry O’Brien trophy. As he explained after the game, George has no doubt in his mind that Leonard’s absence was what cost the team a shot.
“We’d be going on,” George said, according to Ohm Youngmisuk of ESPN. “This series would be a lot different. Talk about one of the best players in the league being out, yet we were inches away from getting to the next round.
“So, definitely it’s a ‘what if’ on this. Fact of the matter is we didn’t do enough to win, and that’s the reason we’re going home.”
None of us can know for sure how a hypothetical would have gone, but obviously, taking an MVP-caliber player off of a roster in the conference finals is a gigantic loss. George, to his credit, played like an MVP in this series — oftentimes mocked for his “Playoff P” nickname, George averaged 28.7 points, 10.5 rebounds, 5.5 assists, and 1.2 steals in 41.2 minutes a night against Phoenix — but Leonard adds another dimension on both ends of the floor that very well could have taken Los Angeles over the top in a series where three of their losses were by a combined 11 points.