After missing the playoffs for 10 consecutive seasons, the Phoenix Suns burned the Los Angeles Clippers at Staples 130-103, to head to the NBA Finals for the first time after 28 years.

28 Years in the Making

The Phoenix Suns defeated the Clippers in their series to win the West Conference Finals and to have a chance at winning the Larry O'brien trophy in the NBA Finals since 1993.

According to CBS Sports, the 130-103 road victory of the Phoenix Suns on Wednesday over the LA Clippers meant that they were the Western Conference finals champion. They won the series against the Clippers by four games to two and secured an NBA Finals berth which will start on July 8. They will be facing either the Atlanta Hawks or the Milwaukee Bucks, who are tied at 2-2 in the best-of-seven series in the Eastern Conference finals.

No More Drought in Phoenix

Aside from the Utah Jazz, the Phoenix Suns was one of just two teams during a shortened 72-game regular season to win 50 games. They have proven that their success would not end in the regular season. The Suns eliminated the defending champion Los Angeles Lakers in six games in the first round of the playoffs. The Phoenix squad followed that with a four-game sweep of last year's West Finals runner-up, the Denver Nuggets.

The Phoenix Suns had carried the second-longest playoff drought in the league into the season. The last trip of the Suns to the conference finals was in 2010, led by then Suns guard and now Brooklyn Nets coach, Steve Nash.

However, skeptics continue to point out that the Suns' squad were currently in their position because they have faced short-handed opponents in each round of the playoffs. In the first round, Lakers' Anthony Davis missed the final 2 1/2 games of the teams' first-round series because of a groin injury. During their series with Denver, Jamal Murray had a season-ending knee injury in April. While in their series against the Clippers, Leonard did not play in the conference finals after spraining his right knee in the second round against Utah.

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The Suns also faced their own burst of adversity in the postseason, but they overcame it. Against the Clippers their veteran floor leader, Chris Paul, missed the first two games because of the league's coronavirus health and safety protocols. Phoenix managed to win both games without Paul despite a broken nose suffered by the All-Star guard Devin Booker in Game 2. However, it was the 41-point performance of CP3 in Game 6 that put the Suns to the NBA Finals and cemented Paul's career.

The 36-year-old NBA veteran is with his fifth team. In his 15 seasons in the league, he had reached the conference finals only once, when he's with James Harden with the Houston Rockets. However, Paul was sidelined for Houston's crucial Games 6 and 7 with a hamstring injury. The Rockets had taken a 3-2 series lead over the defending champion Golden State Warriors in the 2018 West finals but lost both games without Paul.

If the squad from Phoenix, Arizona would win their first title in franchise history, they would join last season's Lakers and the 07-08' Boston Celtics as champions this century who won it all that missed the postseason a season prior.

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