The Phoenix Suns beat the Denver Nuggets 125-118 at Ball Arena on Sunday, claiming their fourth straight win in the series and sweeping the opponents to reach the Western Conference Finals.

This is the second time for 36-year-old Chris Paul to appear in the Conference Finals after doing it in 2018 with the Houston Rockets. He is older and slower, but just as lethal as he was three years ago. In Game 5 against the Utah Jazz on May 8, 2018, Paul scored 41 points to seal the series 4-1 for the Rockets.

On Sunday, Paul dominated the court again by dropping 37 points and seven assists. He was 6-6 – all jumpers – from the field in the third quarter to get 12 points and added another 13 in Q4. The veteran had no 3-point attempts, and only missed five field goals while going 9-9 from the charity stripe.

"A couple years ago, they were writing me off. 'You can't do this.' This ain't about me, it's about us," said Paul after the game. "Shows what you can do when you come together as a team. We've got a great team over there and it's a lot of fun to be a part of it."

"The darkest moment of my life, Chris was right there," said Suns head coach Monty Williams. "One of the highlights of my career, he's right there."

"We were hyped, man. Chris was saying before the game he'd never swept somebody, he had never beat somebody 4-0. I don't know when the last time the Suns have been to the Western Conference finals, but tonight is one of the nights we celebrate in-house and then wake up tomorrow, we're on to either the Clippers or Utah," said Devin Booker, who put down 34 points and 11 rebounds for the Suns on Sunday.

By contrast, the way Nikola Jokic left the series was not so graceful. He took a wild swing at Suns guard Cameron Payne in the third quarter and was ejected with a flagrant foul 2 for his act.

"I wanted to change the rhythm of the game, I wanted to give us some energy, maybe change the whistle a little bit, so I wanted to make a hard foul. Did I hit him, did I not hit him? We don't know. So I say sorry if I did because I did not want to injure him or hit him in the head on purpose," said Jokic, who had 22 points, 11 rebounds and four assists before the ejection.

Jokic has always been a good-natured player, but he easily fell into a foul mood, especially when he had to do everything on offense by himself in front of a tough defender like Deandre Ayton and was targeted and fiercely attacked by the opponents as a defensive deadweight.

Jokic's size determined that he would feel uncomfortable facing a small guard who can shoot off the dribble in the mid-range. The loneliness he felt on offense made it even worse and made him, as well as the rest of the Nuggets, miss Jamal Murray.

Perhaps the following historic moments could make Jokic feel better. When 25-year-old Michael Jordan won his first NBA MVP Award in 1988, he and the Chicago Bulls lost to the "Bad Boys" of the Detroit Pistons in a gentleman's sweep (4-1) in the Eastern Conference semifinals. When 26-year-old Tim Duncan won his first MVP trophy in 2002, he and the Spurs lost to the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the Western semifinals. When 28-year-old Dirk Nowitzki won his only MVP in 2007, he and the Dallas Mavericks were upset by the Golden State Warriors in the first round. When 24-year-old LeBron James received his first MVP in 2009, he and the Cleveland Cavaliers lost to the Orlando Magic 4-2 in the Eastern semifinals.

Jokic, as this season's MVP, is 26, and this is his third playoff trip. There is still time.

Brooklyn Nets 96-107 Milwaukee Bucks

The Nets and their fans have a lot to be frustrated about in Sunday's game: They lost again and the series is now a 2-2 draw; the referee kept ignoring P.J. Tucker's aggressive defensive moves on Kevin Durant; the whole team was frozen from downtown (10-33).

But what really breaks the Nets' heart is Kyrie Irving's injury.

Irving sprained his right ankle after coming down on Giannis Antetokounmpo's foot. He returned to the locker room and did not return. Though x-ray results were negative, the fact that Irving limped off the court in a lot of pain did not change. Neither did the fact that the Nets only scored 52 points in over two and a half quarters after his departure.

ESPN's Rachel Nichols revealed that Irving was in a walking boot and using crutches. "I have no idea what's going to happen with Ky in the coming days," said Nets head coach Steve Nash. "We'll cross our fingers and hope that it's better than missing the next game."

The Nets were already struggling offensively because of their undersized squad. Irving's absence only put a heavier load on the shoulders of Durant, who played 41 minutes and shot 1-8 from beyond the arc in Game 4. Coach Nash did not help by allocating Blake Griffin's time to Jeff Green, who just returned from injury.

The loss of another playmaker cut deep into the Nets' offensive advantage and further exposed their defensive vulnerability. The following games are likely to grow even more physical, meaning that it will be more difficult to set screens for Durant. The 33-year-old can still make tough shots, but he cannot do it for all 48 minutes. Joe Harris and Landry Shamet need to do more than just bury the shots, they need to move more on the floor so Durant won't have to be surrounded by defenders. Furthermore, DeAndre Jordan has been abandoned by Nash in the series, perhaps he should reconsider that decision for the sake of internal defense.

Game 5 will take place at Barclays Center in Brooklyn on Tuesday.