Anthony Davis injurychanges complexion of Suns-Lakers series Anthony Davis exits early in Game 4 and

The Phoenix Suns struggled through the last two games with Chris Paul’s shoulder issues, only to watch the injury pendulum swing back their way Sunday.

Los Angeles Lakers power forward Anthony Davis crumpled to the deck in pain late in the second quarter, falling from an unsuccessful drive attempt with Jae Crowder defending. Davis immediately grabbed his left leg and headed to the dressing room, where he remained after intermission as Los Angeles’ medical staff ascertained the severity of the injury.

The Lakers announced just minutes later that Davis would sit the remainder of the game due to a left groin strain. The Suns went on to claim a 100-92 victory over the Lakers in Game 4, evening their first-round series at 2-2.

The timeline for Davis’ recovery now likely factors heavily into how the rest of this best-of-seven series goes.

“We’ve got to understand that we have enough [to win without Davis],” Lakers coach Frank Vogel told ESPN during a fourth-quarter interview.

What they definitely can’t afford to do is let Davis’ strained groin drastically affect them the rest of the series the way it did in Game 4 at the Staples Center.

It was as if Davis’ second-half absence siphoned away some of Los Angeles’ resolve.

Already playing with a sprained left knee that left him questionable for Sunday’s action, Davis told reporters Saturday during a Zoom session that “there’s no chance that I don’t go tomorrow.” Davis battled through a first half that featured 14 lead changes, scoring six points while shooting 2-for-9 from the floor with four rebounds, three assists, a steal and a blocked shot.

Los Angeles trailed by just one when Davis dropped to the floor in agony.

From there, Phoenix built an eventual 18-point lead by starting out the third quarter on an 8-2 run. With Davis in the locker room receiving a diagnosis from the Lakers medical staff, Deandre Ayton scored four quick points during the run, in addition to gobbling up a pair of rebounds. The Suns big man racked up seven points on 3-for-4 shooting in the third quarter to go with five rebounds as Phoenix outscored the Lakers 27-15.

Ayton finished with 14 points and 17 boards on 6-for-8 shooting.

Davis’ second-half absence reminded us all just how important it is for star players to be available to lead their teams during the postseason. The eight-time All-Star had already missed half the regular season due to right calf and heel issues.

Paul, meanwhile, bruised his right shoulder in the first half of Phoenix’s series-opening win over the Lakers. The injury drastically cut into Paul’s production, as he scored just 13 points (shooting 5-for-13 from the floor) and didn’t even attempt to hoist up a 3-pointer over Games 2 and 3 combined.

Phoenix coach Monty Williams elected to sit Paul for the majority of the fourth quarter of Games 2 and 3. The point guard watched from the bench over the last 7:01 during Tuesday’s Game 2, in addition to the final 9:34 of Thursday’s Game 3 loss to Los Angeles.

Ahead of Game 4, Paul sat out of practice and rested.

According to a report from ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, Paul’s ability for Sunday turned into a true game time decision because Williams needed the point guard to prove the club wouldn’t be better served dispersing his minutes to some of the team’s other perimeter players. Williams also needed assurance from the Phoenix medical staff that Paul’s participation wouldn’t worsen his injury.

In just three quarters of action, Paul matched his production from the two previous games with 14 points (5-10 FGs), before finishing the game with a team-high 18 points, nine assists and three steals for a Phoenix squad that featured five additional double-figure scorers in Crowder (17 points), Ayton, Devin Booker (17 points), Mikal Bridges (11 points) and Cameron Payne (13 points).

“Guys on both sides are banged up. It’s the playoffs,” Paul said in his postgame interview. “It’s been a lot going on. [I] met with coach before the game. He told me he was gonna sit me tonight. I told him, ‘Hell, nah. Just give me a couple of minutes, see what I can do.’”

Now, it’s time to see what Davis might be able to contribute for the duration of this series, which resumes Tuesday at Phoenix Suns Arena (10 ET, TNT).

Michael C. Wright is a senior writer for NBA.com. You can e-mail him here, find his archive here and follow him on Twitter.

Every Gone Fishin' from the 2021 NBA playoffs
Take a look at every “Gone Fishin’ ” segment on Inside the NBA from the 2021 playoffs.

The 2021 playoffs are well underway and the “Inside The NBA” crew has a watchful eye on every playoff series. But as teams see their playoff runs come to an end, Shaquille O’Neal, Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith and Ernie Johnson give the traditional “Gone Fishin’ ” send-off that has been a staple of “Inside The NBA” for years.

Here’s a look at every “Gone Fishin’ ” segment from the 2021 playoffs.

Tune-In Tidbits: TNT Monday, May 31, 2021
Get ready for Monday's TNT doubleheader with five key stats to know about each Game 4 matchup.

• Joel Embiid, who ranks ninth in the playoffs in scoring (29.3 ppg) and fourth in field goal percentage (67.4%), is shooting a perfect 11-11 on 24 post ups through the first three games of the series. Alex Len has defended Embiid for a team-high 9:21 and allowed 13 points on 5-9 shooting; Daniel Gafford has defended Embiid for 8:07 in the series and allowed 27 points on 10-11 shooting from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range and 5-5 from the free throw line on three shooting fouls.

• Bradley Beal leads the Wizards in scoring at 30.3 ppg (7th in playoffs), but is shooting just 15% (3-20) from 3-point range in the series, with 15 of those 20 3-point attempts being either open (closest defender 4-6 feet away) or wide open (closest defender 6+ feet away). Beal is shooting 3-15 (20%) on those open/wide open looks; during the regular season, Beal shot 101-286 (35.3%) on open/wide open 3-pointers.

• Philadelphia’s shooting has steadily increased in this series – 54.8 eFG% in Game 1, 60.8% in Game 2, 68.4% in Game 3 – with their Game 3 mark being the second-highest of any game thus far in the 2021 Playoffs. The Sixers had only two games over the 72-game regular season with a higher eFG% than they posted on Saturday.

• The Sixers are not only going for a sweep in this first round series against Washington, they are looking for their ninth straight win over the Wizards dating back to Dec. 21 2019 (3-0 in 2021 playoffs, 3-0 in 2020-21 regular season, 2-1 in 2019-20 regular season). During this eight-game win streak, the Sixers have averaged 123.8 points per game, shot 53.1% from the field and 43.4% from 3-point range, and have an average margin of victory of 15.5 points, with three of the past four wins coming by 25 points or more.

• The Philadelphia lineup of Danny Green, Tobias Harris, Seth Curry, Joel Embiid, and Ben Simmons has the highest offensive rating (150.4) and highest net rating (44.1) of the 28 five-man lineups that have shared the court for more than 15 minutes this postseason. During the regular season, that Sixers lineup played 656 minutes together and posted a 14.0 net rating; only six teams had a lineup that played at least 500 minutes together, with Philadelphia’s group second in minutes played and first in net rating.

• Among the top 50 scorers in the playoffs, Ja Morant (14.6) and Dillon Brooks (9.8) have made the biggest leaps from regular season scoring to playoff scoring average. After averaging 19.1 ppg (35th in NBA) in the regular season, Morant is averaging 33.7 ppg (2nd in NBA) so far this series. After averaging 17.2 ppg in the regular season, Brooks is averaging 27.0 ppg so far this series. Here are the top 10 leaps in scoring average among the postseason’s top 50 scorers:

• Clutch time is defined as the final five minutes of the fourth quarter or overtime with the score within five points. With exactly five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter of Game 3, Memphis’ Ja Morant made two free throws to give the Grizzlies their first lead of the game at 107-105. The Jazz responded by outscoring Memphis 14-2 run over the next 3 1/2 minutes to build their lead back to 10 points and put the game away. During clutch time of that stretch, Utah got six points from Donovan Mitchell and four points from Rudy Gobert on 4-4 shooting combined.

• Mike Conley matched his career-high with seven 3-pointers and finished with 27 points in his first playoff game back in Memphis – where he spent his entire career before being traded to Utah prior to last season. His playoff return went much better than his regular season return to Memphis back on Nov. 15, 2019 when he scored just 15 points on 5-19 shooting.

• In Memphis’ Game 1 win, Dillon Brooks played 36 minutes, finished with 31 points and only two personal fouls. In Games 2 and 3 combined he has picked up 11 personal fouls, limiting him to 30.5 minutes per game in two losses. How important is it for Brooks to stay out of foul trouble and stay on the court? He leads the team in raw plus/minus (+11) and the Grizzles have been 35.1 points per 100 possessions better with Brooks on court (plus-6.9 net rating in 97 minutes) than when he’s off court (minus-28.2 net rating in 47 minutes).

• After missing the final 16 games of the regular season and the first game of the playoffs with a sprained right ankle, Donovan Mitchell has continued to work his way back to form over the past two games. In the second half of Game 3, Mitchell scored 20 points in 18 minutes – his highest scoring half of the series (14 in 1st half of Game 2, 13 in 2nd half of Game 2, 9 in 1st half of Game 3, 20 in 2nd half of Game 3).

Clippers come out firing in dominating Game 4 win
Mavs have no answer for Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and LA's small lineup as Clippers even up series.

Tyronn Lue flashed a glimpse Friday of the lineup that might completely flip this series, only to unleash it again full bore Sunday to help the LA Clippers even things up 2-2 with a 106-81 win over the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs.

Instead of waiting for the Mavericks to inflict damage before making adjustments, Lue rolled out a small-ball lineup from the onset that prevented Luka Doncic from hunting Clippers big man Ivica Zubac on switches. At the same time, LA stars Kawhi Leonard and Paul George attacked relentlessly from tipoff to help LA build a 61-45 halftime lead from which Dallas could never recover.

After combining for 65 points in Game 3, Leonard and George came together for 35 points in the first half to help LA build a 19-point lead thanks to a dominant performance from the duo in the paint and midrange.

Leonard scored a game-high 29 points on 11-for-15 shooting with 10 rebounds, while George chipped in 20 points.

“We’re playing great, that’s all I care about,” Leonard said after the game. “One player, two players can’t win a championship or win a playoff series.”

But Leonard and George certainly pushed LA into an advantageous position headed into Wednesday’s Game 5 at the Staples Center (10 ET, TNT).