NBA Playoffs: Deandre Ayton's Game-Winner Caps Wild Finish to Suns-Clippers Game 2

Ayton's game-winner caps wild finish to Suns-Clippers Game 2 originally appeared on NBC Sports Chicago

What a finish in Phoenix.

With the Phoenix Suns trailing the Los Angeles Clippers by one and just 0.9 seconds remaining in Tuesday night's Game 2 of the Western Conference finals, Jae Crowder found Deandre Ayton off an inbound pass for a game-winning alley-oop.

The Clippers, without any timeouts to advance the ball, couldn't get a last-second shot off in time as the Suns won 104-103 to take a 2-0 series lead.

Ayton's game-winning dunk capped a hectic, controversial and replay-heavy ending to Game 2. There were five replay reviews in the final 91 seconds of game action, three of which came in the last 10 seconds.

With the Suns trailing by one and less than 10 seconds remaining, Patrick Beverley poked the ball away from Devin Booker and out of bounds. The original call was Phoenix ball, but instant replay showed Booker actually touched the ball last even though Beverley's swipe forced it out.

Following the controversial ruling, the Suns were forced to foul and sent Paul George to the line.

George had hit go-ahead shots on each of the Clippers' previous two offensive possessions, but he came up small at the charity stripe. The career 87-percent free throw shooter missed his fourth and fifth free throws of the night to keep it a one-point game.

Mikal Bridges then missed a good look at a corner 3-pointer, but the Clippers were unable to corral the rebound as it went out of bounds off Terance Mann. The Suns had no timeouts left, but the refs reviewing the out-of-bounds call allowed head coach Monty Williams to draw up the game-winning play.

The Clippers now find themselves in a familiar position after they overcame a 2-0 deficit in each of their first two playoff series. But this matchup could be getting even tougher for them as they return home. The Suns are optimistic Chris Paul will be back in the lineup for Game 3 after missing the start of the series due to health and safety protocols, according to ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Meanwhile, it's unknown whether Kawhi Leonard will be able to return from his sprained right knee during this series.

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