The Phoenix Suns are the darling of the NBA, the favorites in the Western Conference after trading for Kevin Durant, people thought, even with only 8 games played for Durant in the regular season and a lack of depth, the Suns were going to cruise through the Western Conference, or at least to the Conference Finals. The problem with that is the Denver Nuggets are standing in their way. People have had concerns about Denver, and for good reason. They were bad at the end of the season, losing by 21 to the Rockets, 19 to the Pelicans, 21 to the Bulls, and 8 to the Spurs, not to mention the 2 losses to these Suns in the final 2 weeks of the season. Yet, none of it mattered because 2 games into their 2nd round series, Denver has a commanding 2-0 lead on the Suns and looks like the best team in the sport.
After the up and down end to the regular season, Denver absolutely smacked the Wolves around in the first round, with the 4-1 gentleman’s sweep. Nikola Jokic was dominant no matter which Minnesota big was guarding him and Jamal Murray really started to look like Jamal Murray from the bubble averaging 27.2 points, 6.4 assists and 5.6 rebounds in round 1. That showed in game 1 where Murray absolutely dominated the game with 34 points, 9 assists and 5 rebounds on 13/24 from the floor and 6/10 from 3 absolutely dominating the Suns who looked hopeless in guarding him. Nikola Jokic had 24 points and 19 rebounds in the game as well. Game 1 was also lost by the Suns in the math game, they took 17 less shots than Denver, 14 less threes than Denver (out scored by 27 beyond the arch), and had 7 more turnovers than Denver so even though they shot a better percentage than Denver did, it is hard to make up for those numbers. Phoenix did not lose the math game in game 2 taking 19 more shots and 4 more threes than Denver did. The problem was they did not make any of their threes going 6/31 from beyond the arch in game 2 with Devin Booker and Kevin Durant the only ones to make a 3 in the game for the Suns (KD was 2/12 from beyond the arch in the game). Meanwhile, everytime it looked like Phoenix was poised to create a lead with breathing room in the game, Kentavious Caldwell-Pope would hit a big shot and keep the Nuggets within striking distance. Then Nikola Jokic made sure his team did not lose, hitting 3 key floaters before one more KCP 3 and a Jamal Murray mid range jumper, one of his three makes in the game, iced the game giving the Nuggets the commanding 2-0 lead in the series.
The first worry for game 3 is the health of Chris Paul, who left game 2 with a left groin injury. Coach Monty Williams after the game said Paul could not push off his left leg “at all,” per ESPN’s Tim MacMahon. If he can’t go, with the Suns lack of depth, that is one more big problem for the Suns. Cam Payne was bad last night, in fact he has been bad all season, he can’t play too many minutes. This series could get ugly fast because the Suns’ season is on the line on Friday night and if Paul cannot go, who steps up? No Paul gives Phoenix one less creator they trust and Monty Williams already has a lack of trust in his team’s bench. This is year one of the Kevin Durant era, it can’t end in a sweep or a gentleman’s sweep with the assets the Suns traded to get KD because Durant and Paul are not getting any younger. It is gut check time for the Suns and I am not sure how they handle it.
The Nuggets are rolling, 6-1 in the playoffs, with neither Minnesota nor Phoenix having an answer for Denver. Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic have been on the court together for 214 minutes thus far in the playoffs, they have a net rating of 7.6 in those minutes which is 4th in the playoffs for duos with over 200 minutes. In the Suns series they have a net rating of 20.3 in 63 minutes played together, they have utterly dominated Phoenix on both sides of the court. Deandre Ayton has, obviously, been Phoenix’s best answer for Jokic but it has not mattered, the Suns have no answer for ‘The Joker,’ who is getting whatever shot he wants, whenever he wants. With the contributions from the other rotation players, Aaron Gordon, KCP, Jeff Green, Bruce Brown, and rookie Christain Braun (pronounced brown oddly enough), Denver has not needed a big Michael Porter Jr. game yet but they will in the future and when they do MPJ will need to step up. I told you the size and length of the Nuggets was going to be a problem for the Suns coming into the series, and along with the physicality the Nuggets have defended with, that has been the Suns biggest issue thus far.
The Nuggets are rolling and it seems the Suns do not have an answer. It is gut check time for the Suns, they need Kevin Durant to have a vintage Kevin Durant season saving game in game 3, especially if CP3 does not play. In order for Durant to do that they need to get him more involved than he has been. This feels like the Nuggets moment, with the way the Celtics have struggled, the Bucks already eliminated, and Philly’s injury concerns, it feels like the Nuggets might be in the driver's seat to raise the Larry O’Brien trophy in June, can Jokic and Murray make sure that happens?
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