NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE SHAKEUP: PAUL IN PROTOCOL, KAWHI WITH KNEE

The NBA Conference Semis have been a battle as teams fight for the chance to play in the Conference Finals.

In the Eastern Conference, Philly and Atlanta are tied and Durant led the Nets to a 3-2 series lead against the Bucks last night. Durant ended up playing the whole 48 minutes in the game with 49 points, 17 rebounds, 10 assists, with a 70% field goal percentage.

In the Western Conference, the Phoenix Suns’ Chris Paul hit a season-high 37 points in Game 4 on Sunday versus the Nuggets, which helped the Suns clinch the Conference Finals with a 4-0 sweep. Paul has been a dominant component averaging 15.7 points, 8.7 assists and 4.1 rebounds per game. However, The Athletic reported that sources tell them that Phoenix Suns guard Chris Paul has entered the NBA’s health and safety protocols and is sidelined for an indefinite period of time.

With the Conference Finals schedule not released yet, the Suns could get lucky if the Jazz-Clippers semis go to Game 7, which would be played this coming Sunday. That would give Paul some time to go through protocol and depending on the medical circumstance the isolation period could be shorter for a vaccinated individual.

Speaking of the Jazz-Clippers series, Kawhi Leonard could potentially miss the remainder of the series with a knee injury. That is not something any Clippers fan wants to hear after they just tied the series 2-2 after dropping the first two games in the series. Not having Kawhi is obviously a massive blow to the Clippers and their chance of reaching the Conference Finals.

But, the one team that might make out from all of this on top are the Utah Jazz. With Kawhi out and Paul in protocol, now is the time to strike and win the next two games to get into the Conference Finals and play the Suns while they are down.

Who do you think will face off against the Suns? Will Paul be out of protocol by then?