Phx-Suns.Net

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 7:29 am

That was a great locker room clip. Glad they are celebrating Monty for getting his first series win.

In my official playoff predictions, I picked us to win this series in 7 and then to lose to the Nuggets in the next round. But who knows? Jokic will be a nightmare matchup, but I don't know that the Nuggets can slow down our offense the way the Lakers did. If we have found a rhythm and confidence from this series, the sky's the limit.

Suns are the favorites to win the Series with Denver, 62-38. They probably should be. The two losses to Denver were back to back, in overtime and double overtime. In both cases, Denver had star guard Murray available. In the 2 OT loss, Booker was out with a hamstring injury. Murray's the second or third best player on the team (between him and MPJ).

Even healthy, Denver was about an even match for us. But, they're down Murray, and CP3 is likely to be feeling a lot better after limited minutes last night, and 4 days rest. Our best three are better than their best three (Jokic, MPJ, Gordon vs. Booker, CP3, Ayton, there's a steep drop off with Gordon there). Our rotation is deeper / better as well (though they have great front court depth, their back court is a bit of a mess).

I'm not saying we will win, but being slightly favored seems about right. Jokic is a beast, and they're much better 3 point shooters than the Lakers. They're a better team than the Lakers we faced, but CP3 is also going to be healthier, and they can't just dare him to shoot the way LA did.

Their fill in guards have been really good in the playoffs, but that was against a terrible Portland defense. I think we’ll do much better defending Rivers, Morris, and Campazzo

I'm scared of the Nuggets because Jokic is otherworldly and I'm not sure Ayton can slow him down. But if we just play smart and single-cover Jokic, staying home on their shooters, I think we can beat them. Any team that relies this much on Campazzo and Austin Rivers is beatable.

I think Bridges can give MPJ problems.

Didn’t Dario do ok on Jokic? I’m trying to remember, but he’s a better option than Frank, right?

Split T wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:38 am

I think Bridges can give MPJ problems.

Didn’t Dario do ok on Jokic? I’m trying to remember, but he’s a better option than Frank, right?

I agree on Bridges. I have this recollection that Dario didn't even play in any of the Denver games. I could be wrong though. IIRC, I thought not having Dario was a big reason why the Suns lost the 2 back2back games in Phx.

I wonder what the story is on Dario. He hasn’t been the same since Covid. They rarely play him at all now and when they do it’s not good. Did Covid mess him up that bad or what?

I think they should give Dario another try in the Denver series. I think he could be a good option for us against that team even though he looked bad against LA.

I honestly think the Suns have one of the clearest paths to the finals this year that I can remember. I would actually favor the Suns over the Nugget and any one of the Jazz/Clippers/Mavs that they could meet in the WCF.

In2ition wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:57 am

Split T wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 10:38 am

I think Bridges can give MPJ problems.

Didn’t Dario do ok on Jokic? I’m trying to remember, but he’s a better option than Frank, right?

I agree on Bridges. I have this recollection that Dario didn't even play in any of the Denver games. I could be wrong though. IIRC, I thought not having Dario was a big reason why the Suns lost the 2 back2back games in Phx.

You’re right, he didn’t play. I think I was thinking of Embiid

Ayton held Jokic to 17 points in our win in Denver (17/9/11, 0 blocks, 0 free throw attempts), while Ayton had 22/11 and 2 blocks.

In the 3-game season series:

Jokic: 25.7/13.7/8.3/1.7/0.0 on on 50.8 FG% in 37.3 mpg

Ayton: 22.0/12.3/1.0/0.3/1.3 on 70.0 FG% in 37.7mpg

JeremyG wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:55 am

In the 3-game season series:

Jokic: 25.7/13.7/8.3/1.7/0.0 on on 50.8 FG% in 37.3 mpg

Ayton: 22.0/12.3/1.0/0.3/1.3 on 70.0 FG% in 37.7mpg

If the playoff series goes like this, I think we win. We are going to lose the Jokic-Ayton matchup, I mean Jokic is the mvp. But we should win everything else.

And if we lose the Ayton/Jokić matchup it should be close and not glaring.

jonh wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:13 am

I honestly think the Suns have one of the clearest paths to the finals this year that I can remember. I would actually favor the Suns over the Nugget and any one of the Jazz/Clippers/Mavs that they could meet in the WCF.

Part of me feels the same way. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. The Nuggets will still be very tough even without Murray. And the WCF against the Jazz or Clips could also be a difficult series.

Mori Chu wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 1:17 pm

jonh wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:13 am

I honestly think the Suns have one of the clearest paths to the finals this year that I can remember. I would actually favor the Suns over the Nugget and any one of the Jazz/Clippers/Mavs that they could meet in the WCF.

Part of me feels the same way. But I don't want to get ahead of myself. The Nuggets will still be very tough even without Murray. And the WCF against the Jazz or Clips could also be a difficult series.

No way the Clips get there.

This is the first time we've played the Nuggets in the playoffs since 1989, and we've never played them after the first round.

Full second round schedule:

Phoenix Suns (2) vs. Denver Nuggets (3)

Game 1: Monday, June 7 | Denver at Phoenix, 10 ET, TNT
Game 2: Wednesday, June 9 | Denver at Phoenix, 9:30 ET, TNT
Game 3: Friday, June 11 | Phoenix at Denver, 10 ET, ESPN
Game 4: Sunday, June 13 | Phoenix at Denver, 8 ET, TNT
Game 5: Tuesday, June 15 | Denver at Phoenix, TBD, TNT (if necessary)
Game 6: Thursday, June 17 | Phoenix at Denver, TBD, ESPN (if necessary)
Game 7: Sunday, June 20 | Denver at Phoenix, TBD, TBD (if necessary)

https://www.nba.com/news/2021-nba-playo ... s-schedule

We get no rest unlike the two East series.

jonh wrote: ↑

Fri Jun 04, 2021 11:13 am

I honestly think the Suns have one of the clearest paths to the finals this year that I can remember. I would actually favor the Suns over the Nugget and any one of the Jazz/Clippers/Mavs that they could meet in the WCF.

Exactly. Their guard play won’t cover our guys and will leave our shooters open. I don’t feel good about our odds id JM is healthy.

The Suns and/or Chris Paul are responsible for 3 of the 7 first-round exits by defending NBA champions, 2 for the Suns (2000 Spurs and 2021 Lakers) and 2 for Paul (2015 Spurs and 2021 Lakers).