Game Day Playoff Edition - WCF Phoenix Suns @ Los Angeles Clippers Game III Thursday June 24

[Superbone]

#8 Davis, #30 Goble, #60 Williams, #71 Mott

4-2, 1-1, 2-2, 3-0 (Alternate )

[Furlanfufi]

[Superbone]

So no broken nose for Book, it sounds like.

[Nodack]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

[Superbone]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

He's the finest in all the land, man.

[AmareIsGod]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

Give the guy a break! Show a little flex, will ya?

[Superbone]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

Give the guy a break! Show a little flex, will ya?

I don't think you want to see 'Dack with his shirt off right now...

Ahem! How 'bout those Suns?!

[Nodack]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

Give the guy a break! Show a little flex, will ya?

I don't think you want to see 'Dack with his shirt off right now...

Ahem! How 'bout those Suns?!

Ya, not a pretty sight. More like a Frankenstein experiment.

[Nodack]

Booker is finest but will wear a mask to protect from further injury.

Booker is fine?

Give the guy a break! Show a little flex, will ya?

I don't think you want to see 'Dack with his shirt off right now...

Ahem! How 'bout those Suns?!

Ya, not a pretty sight. More like a Frankenstein experiment or an autopsy.

[pickle]

Dear basketball gods, I don’t ask for much, not even during the most depressing years. But please, no more injuries. Thank you.

[Mori Chu]

Dear basketball gods, I don’t ask for much, not even during the most depressing years. But please, no more injuries. Thank you.

I was thinking that if we are lucky enough to win an NBA title, every single team we've played against will have had major injuries:

Lakers - Davis
Nuggets - Murray, etc.
Clippers - Kawhi
Hawks - Hunter, Reddish, Bogdanovich

Will people discount us if we do win it? Will they try to put an asterisk next to whoever wins this year's title?

[Split T]

Of course people will, but they’ll forget quickly.

[pickle]

You’ve already decided that the Bucks are toast huh?

[pickle]

Also I guess Ibaka is part of the Clipper casualty list.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Besides a catastrophic injury or random ejection, I've settled on deciding the likeliest way the Clippers can win this game is if it's a "Player-X Game", a la the "Terrance Mann Game" from their series against Utah. Jackson, Batum and Mann are the likely candidates, maybe even Kennard. Of course it's not inconceivable that Paul George scores 50+, but that one seems less likely to me.

There's always a fear of Ayton getting into foul trouble early, but it feels like that mostly comes down to officiating luck since he's quite good at not fouling.

I'm just searching for a reason to not feel as optimistic as I was going into game 4 in Denver.

[Split T]

The clippers defense is much better than Denver, even with Zubac. If CP3 is a touch rusty, Book struggles with Bev, and our shooters shoot like Tuesday…we could easily lose.

[Cap]

I hope there’s a whole section of Suns fans at Staples shouting, “Suns in 4!”

[Flagrant Fowl]

The clippers defense is much better than Denver, even with Zubac. If CP3 is a touch rusty, Book struggles with Bev, and our shooters shoot like Tuesday…we could easily lose.

I've tried to consider the Clippers improving defensively at home, but I just can't imagine the Suns not being more efficient with Paul back. I could be talked into it if he were out for a bodily injury, like his shoulder/neck problem, but his COVID situation is different. He's reportedly been working out the whole time as well.

Beverly is a pain in the ass, but I don't think he's good enough to get the best of Booker twice in a row, especially with Paul back taking away a lot more of the Clippers defensive attention. The facemask is a wildcard, though.

I can imagine the Suns having another 6-26 game. That is worrying. OTOH, game three against Denver was the last time Crowder and/or Bridges had a hot start when they went a combined 3-4 from deep in the first quarter. It kinda feels like they're due.

Someone mentioned in the game 2 thread about Mikal not showing up for this series and I commented that he's suffered the most with Paul being out. Same can be said for Crowder. Paul and Booker just attract so much attention that defenses are just that half a second slower to react to the wing shooters.

[Split T]

Ya I think we win, possibly even fairly easily, but the Clippers are good, we were lucky to beat them Tuesday. I’m not ready to call the series like I was with Denver after 2 games.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Oh, I'm certainly not comfortable calling the series for the Suns right now. The Clippers have too many guys who will take a cheap shot or make a dirty play out of desperation to count them out entirely. Once the Clippers try those things, and the Suns still prevail, then they'll start to roll over.