PHOENIX, AZ — The Los Angeles Clippers nearly dropped their first game of the postseason to Kevin Durant and the Phoenix Suns, but held on thanks to the clutch-time heroics of Russell Westbrook.

LA defeated Phoenix 115-110 in Game 1 on Sunday, taking a 1-0 series lead for the first time under head coach Tyronn Lue. Kawhi Leonard scored a game-high 38 points go along with five rebounds and five assists. Eric Gordon added 19 points, while Norman Powell (14 points) and Terance Mann (10 points) combined for 24 of the Clippers' 34 bench points on the night.

Kevin Durant put up 27 points, nine rebounds, 11 assists, and two blocks. Devin Booker poured in another 26 points to go along with three assists, four steals, and three blocks on the night. Chris Paul finished with seven points, 11 rebounds, and 10 assists for Phoenix.

In the end, it was Russell Westbrook who helped make some of the biggest plays down the stretch, some of which didn't even show in the boxscore. Westbrook finished Game 1 between the Clippers and Suns with nine points, 11 rebounds, eight assists, two steals, and three blocked shots. He shot an abysmal 3-of-19 from the field in the game, routinely unable to score the basketball and appearing to shoot the Clippers out of the game at times.

He was, however, instrumental by grabbing five offensive rebounds on the night and forcing a couple of deflections that led to dead-ball offensive rebounds for the Clippers. Westbrook's biggest play of the night came with when he blocked Devin Booker's layup attempt with 10 seconds remaining, and then deflected the ball off Booker out of bounds while the Suns guard was complaining about a foul.

“My whole career, man, I've been priding of myself every season to do everything,” Russell Westbrook told ClutchPoints of the Clippers. “I think I'm one of those guys that can do everything each and every night. Like I've always told you guys, whatever's needed of me to win a game, I'll do it. I'm just grateful that T-Lue and the staff believe in me regardless my shots not falling and allowing me to make an impact on the team and win.”

Westbrook went through a game that was tied for the worst shooting game of his postseason career. Back on May 31, 2021, Westbrook shot 3-of-19 from the field in Game 4 of the first round series between the Washington Wizards and Philadelphia 76ers. Despite the awful shooting game, Westbrook finished with 19 points, 21 rebounds, 14 assists, and two steals in 42 minutes of play.

The Clippers were outscored by six when Westbrook was in the game, including a -9 in the second half. He was, however, a +3 in the fourth quarter, which fits the eye test considering that's when all of his big plays took place.

“I told him during the game — I'm not sure if was second or third quarter, maybe late second — that your scoring is not that important,” Clippers head coach Tyronn Lue said after the win. “‘Like don't get frustrated with missing shots. Take good shots. Take the right shots but you bring us way more than just scoring the basketball. So don't let that affect your game.' And you know, defensively, he was great on KD. I thought his physicality was good. He got a few offensive rebounds at the ends of the game that kept the ball alive and got some more possessions and the big stop on Book at the end.

“So don't get discouraged about making shots or missing shots because you bring way more to this team than just making shots and I thought he was phenomenal tonight.”

Kawhi Leonard, who hit back-to-back clutch three-pointers in the fourth, says he wasn't surprised to see Westbrook have the type of clutch performance that he had despite the poor shooting.

“He's a Hall-of-Fame point guard,” added Kawhi Leonard. “He's been big in playoffs before. He's been to the Finals. I expect him to play great and do his job.”

Is it possible Westbrook was at all fueled by a rather strange exchange with some Suns fans at halftime? Probably not, but that incident is now being investigated by the NBA, according to Turner Sports' Chris Haynes.

Game 2 between the Clippers and Suns will certainly look much different than it did on Sunday. That game will take place on Tuesday night at 10PM PST on TNT and Bally Sports.

The Clippers will need a much better version of Russell Westbrook in that game, as the trio of Kevin Durant, Devin Booker, and Chris Paul are sure to step up their games having given up home-court advantage already.