Phoenix book a place in the sun

PHOENIX • The Phoenix Suns used to be the punchline of jokes as one of the worst teams in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the past decade.

Not any more. Chris Paul scored 28 points as the hosts punched their ticket to the post-season for the first time in 11 years with a 109-101 win over the Los Angeles Clippers on Wednesday.

The Suns improved to 44-18 for the season and are now two games ahead of the third-placed Clippers (43-21) and one game behind the Utah Jazz (45-17) atop the Western Conference.

Their drought was tied for fifth-longest all time in the NBA and after getting the monkey off their back, Devin Booker is looking forward to testing himself against the best.

The All-Star guard, who is the team's top scorer with an average of 25.5 points per game, said: "It feels great. It's been a long time coming. I just shut my mouth for five years (he joined Phoenix in 2015).

"Believe me, I am looking forward to it, packing the place out... and the atmosphere, energy and vibe in the whole city to be up."

Like Booker, who had 21 points on the night, All-Star Paul was feted by the pandemic-restricted crowd with chants of "MVP (Most Valuable Player)".

The guard arrived from the Oklahoma City Thunder in November and his experience has guided the relatively youthful Suns into uncharted territory.

Calling his leadership role on the team "special", the 35-year-old said: "I knew coming into the situation... Then when I got here, I got a chance to see the culture that they had already built.

"As long as you do the work day in and day out, you expect this."

Los Angeles were without All-Star Kawhi Leonard (foot) for the fifth straight game, with Paul George pacing the visitors after a 25-point performance.

In Philadelphia, Seth Curry scored 20 points as the Philadelphia 76ers also clinched a play-off spot with a 127-83 rout of the shorthanded Atlanta Hawks.

The Sixers, second in the East behind the already qualified Brooklyn Nets, improved to 41-21 on the season by using a balanced attack that saw all 15 players get on the scoresheet.

"Coming into the season, our goal was to win a championship," All-Star Joel Embiid said.

"There are a lot of steps to get there. But we have everything we need to make it happen."

The Sixers have not won an NBA title since 1983 and last reached the Finals in 2001.

In Sacramento, Bojan Bogdanovic scored 24 points as the Jazz set a franchise record for most points in a game by clobbering the Sacramento Kings 154-105. Eight players got into double figures for Utah.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE