NBA Playoffs: Deandre Ayton's Buzzer-Beating Dunk Seals Suns Win

PHOENIX, AZ — It took 59 minutes and 59.1 seconds for the Phoenix Suns to seal Tuesday's Game 2 against the Los Angeles Clippers.

The Suns did just that, with seven-foot center Deandre Ayton punctuating the home side's win with a thunderous alley-oop slam to cap off a 104-103 victory.

It was a play 33 minutes in the making, with as many video replays (five) as field goals made during the final 90 seconds of game time.

For Ayton, the punctuating sidelines alley-oop was a bit befuddling at first, as the third-year center wasn't sure his basket beat the buzzer.

“The celebration and reaction were a little shaky,” Ayton said. “Because I wasn't sure what I did. I wasn't sure if it counted."

In the end, Ayton's dunk did count, and the Suns earned their ninth-consecutive win, moving into a tie with several other teams for the seventh-longest streak in NBA postseason history.

The barnburner of a contest in downtown Phoenix on Tuesday night included countless lead changes and plenty of bad blood to go around.

The hometown Suns overcame a slow start offensively to grab a 48-47 lead at the half, with Phoenix securing a 75-71 lead at the end of the game's third quarter.

From there, the two sides traded barbs and buckets, with Clippers guards Reggie Jackson and Paul George combining to score 45 points.

The Suns countered with a career night by vagabond guard Cameron Payne, who notched 29 points in the victory.

Payne stepped up for the Suns, on a night where guard Devin Booker had to leave the game after suffering a nose injury on a blow by Jackson in the game's third quarter.

In the end, Payne wound up being one of three Suns to score at least 20 points Tuesday, along with Ayton (24 points) and Booker (20 points).

Looking forward, the Suns will head to the City of Angels to play the Clippers at 6 p.m. local time in Game 3 of the series.

There's a decent chance that Phoenix will get guard Chris Paul back, after the veteran missed the first two games of the series after being put in the NBA's health and safety protocols on June 16.

The Clippers may also get forward Kawhi Leonard back, after he missed the first two games of the series with a knee injury.

Leonard led all Clippers in scoring during the regular season, averaging 24.8 points per game on 51.2 percent shooting.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.