The Phoenix Suns edged over the Los Angeles Clippers 84-80 at Staples Center on Saturday, winning Game 4 of the Western Conference Finals and leading 3-1 in the series.

The loss in Game 3 put an end to the Suns' nine-win streak in the playoffs this season. The Clippers suddenly raised their intensity in the third quarter, turning the game painfully physical and catching the Suns off guard.

In Game 4, the Suns came better-prepared and showed their attitude from the beginning. At 3:43 in the first quarter, Devin Booker fouled on Paul George in transition offense quite ferociously, drawing a technical foul from George. In the next possession, Terance Mann of the Clippers pulled Cameron Payne from behind, and Payne responded with a technical foul-calling reaction as well.

Mark Jackson, who was commenting on the game at ESPN, said the Clippers were "testing the waters." "They are trying to, you know, be a little more physical to see what they are, phoenix Suns are made of," added Jackson.

So were the Suns. They knew the Clippers were going hard, so the Suns decided to strike first. In fact, that's what Michael Jordan did in Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals against the Detroit Pistons in 1991. He elbowed Joe Dumars, exchanged cursing words with Dennis Rodman and told his teammates right before the game that he wanted to kill the Pistons more than winning the championship.

Such saber-rattling performance set the tone for Saturday's game. The Suns and the Clippers committed 48 fouls and walked onto the free throw line 54 times in total. The efforts and attention they invested in defense obviously affected players' touch. The Suns were 31-86 on the field and 4-20 from beyond, while the Clippers shot 27-83 in field goals and 5-31 in triples. The Suns led in blocks 8-2 but committed more turnovers as well (14-10), not to mention that four of them came from Chris Paul.

Of course, going tough alone would not lead you to victory; playing right would. Both sides made the right decision prioritizing returning to defense after missing shots – as a result, neither scored much in fast-break (Suns 6-7 Clippers).

Deandre Ayton dropped a double-double of 19 points and 22 rebounds while delivering four blocks for the Suns, but he made some poor defensive decisions in the second half that gave the opponents easy points. Ivica Zubac had 13 points, 14 rebounds for the Clippers, and he did a good job challenging Paul and Booker in the middle range. But as long as he's on the floor, his perimeter teammates always had to face extra defense under the rim.

As the Suns' first scoring option, Booker missed 12 jumpers including all five triples attempts, but he scored 12 points in the paint and went 9-11 at the free throw line. Paul watched 16 of his jump shots miss the rim, but he made five of the team's last six free throws to seal the win for the Suns.

On the Clippers side, Reggie Jackson was the only one on Saturday night to make plural triples (2-9) and several of the middle-range jumpers he buried boosted the morale too. But he was 2-11 in the paint. Paul George scored a big double-double of 23 points and 16 rebounds while delivering six assists. He also earned 18 free throws but missed six of them, including three of his last four attempts.

That was not the only embarrassing stat for George. He was 5-20 on the field, shooting under 25 percent for the 11th time in the playoffs. It was already the third-most in NBA history after Bob Cousy (13 times) and Tom Heinsohn (12 times).

Perhaps George finally ran out of luck after leading his team to come back from a 2-0 trail twice in the previous series. So did the Clippers, which missed all 12 shots that could have either tied the score or put them on top in the last quarter.

Game 5 of the series will happen at Phoenix Suns Arena on Monday.