Chris Paul couldn’t miss. Devin Booker couldn’t be stopped.
The Phoenix Suns roared into the Western Conference Finals for the first time in 11 years Sunday night with a testy 125-118 victory over Denver that completed a four-game sweep.
The Nuggets? Well, they went down fighting.
Paul scored 37 points and Booker added 34 in a physical game marred by MVP Nikola Jokic‘s ejection for a flagrant foul in the third quarter.
Jokic was tossed with 3:52 left in the third and his Nuggets trailing 83-76 after his hard right-hand windmill swipe sent the ball flying but also caught Cameron Payne in the face.
Officials assessed a double technical on Jokic and Booker and after a review, ejected the MVP after upgrading his foul to a Flagrant 2. Jokic finished with 22 points and 11 rebounds in 28 minutes.
Nuggets coach Michael Malone said he watched the play while the officials reviewed the call “and I just assumed it would be a Flagrant 1 at the worst.”
After knocking out LeBron James and the defending champion Lakers in Round 1, the Suns quickly dispatched Denver and made Jokic the first MVP to get swept in a playoff series since Magic Johnson in 1989.
Will Barton led Denver, which trailed by 13 heading into the fourth quarter, with 25 points, Michael Porter Jr. added 20 and Monte Morris 19.
The Nuggets survived the loss of star Jamal Murray to a torn ACL on April 12, winning 13 of 18 to close out the regular season and taking care of Portland in five games in the opening round.