National Basketball Association

NBA Playoffs Top Moments: Bucks even series with Nets, Suns sweep Nuggets

Updated Jun. 13, 2021 11:34 p.m. ET

As the NBA playoffs continue, they seem to just keep getting better. That was the case Sunday when two dramatic Game 4s took place.

In the first matchup of the day, Kevin Durant, Kyrie Irving, and the Brooklyn Nets were looking to bounce back against Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks after suffering a close Game 3 loss.

But that wasn't the case, with the Bucks taking a 107-96 victory in Game 4 to tie the series at 2-2.

To add insult to injury, Irving suffered an ankle sprain that kept him out of the remainder of the game and puts his status moving forward in question.

The Nets are already without All-Star guard James Harden, who is nursing a hamstring injury.

Then in the second game, Chris Paul and the Phoenix Suns swept aside the Denver Nuggets with a 125-118 victory to advance to the Western Conference finals for the first time since 2010. Denver's fate was more or less sealed when MVP Nikola Jokic was ejected for a flagrant foul in the third quarter.

Here the top moments from Sunday's NBA action:

Phoenix Suns 125, Denver Nuggets 118 (Suns wins series 4-0)

Game 4 picked up just how Game 3 left off for the Suns, and that was with Devin Booker making an early impact with his scoring.

Booker, Paul and even Deandre Ayton are usually the guys getting the majority of the credit for Phoenix's success.

But the star of the first quarter of Game 4 was Jae Crowder, who recorded three blocks and six rebounds in 11 minutes of play.

The Suns carried a 63-55 point lead into halftime behind their All-Star backcourt duo.

Paul chipped in 12 points and five assists, while Booker poured in 21 points in the first half, his highest-scoring half of the series.

In the third quarter, it was more of the same from Paul, who dominated the period early with 12 quick points.

But the story of the third quarter, and possibly the game, will be Jokic getting ejected for a flagrant-2 foul against Cameron Payne.

Losing their MVP figured to put the Nuggets in a tight spot, and the Suns certainly felt good.

The Nuggets didn't fold but in the end Paul, Booker and the Suns were simply too much.

Paul led the way with 37 points. This was the fifth time in 119 career playoff games for Paul that he's scored 35+ points. It was also his highest point total as a Sun.

And now the Suns head on to the Western Conference finals, where they await the winner of the Jazz-Clippers series.

Milwaukee Bucks 107, Brooklyn Nets 96 (Series tied 2-2)

Even though the Bucks were able to win Game 3, Antetokounmpo struggled from 3-point range, shooting just 1-for-8.

He got off to a quick start in Game 4, though, making his first attempt from beyond the arc.

While Antetokounmpo isn't known for his 3-point shooting, Irving is.

He showed off his deep shot-making ability early, with a contested corner 3 over two Bucks' defenders.

After making just six 3-pointers in total as a team in Game 3, the Bucks made five early on in the first quarter of Game 4.

All five makes came from different players.

Falling behind by as many as 11 points in the second quarter, the Bucks were able to storm back and regain the lead thanks to the hot shooting of P.J.Tucker, who drilled a couple of corner 3-pointers to lead their charge.

Antetokounmpo capped off the Bucks' run with a thunderous dunk in transition.

Both teams battled back and forth in the first half, with the Bucks managing to take a 53-48 lead into the break, but the key story was Irving suffering an ankle injury in the second quarter.

The third quarter was all Bucks, extending their five-point lead at the half to 12 points heading into the fourth.

And, of course, Antetokounmpo was in the middle of all of the action.

Though it was a rough shooting game for Durant, he still managed to make his way up the NBA record books, moving into eighth place all-time in made free throws in the NBA playoffs.

And in the end, the Bucks were able to tie the series with a 107-96 victory.

The Bucks were able to finally break out of their shooting woes through the first three games and make 16 3-pointers in the win.

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