Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

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Superbone
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Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Superbone »

Time: 7:00 pm AZ (7:00 pm PT/10:00 pm ET)
Place: Phoenix Suns Arena, Phoenix, AZ
TV: BSAZ, TNT

The Lakers lost game 1 last year to Portland and then came back and won the series on their way to winning yet another NBA title. All that to say that we can't let off the gas. We need to stay desperate. We really need to win game two as well. BEAT LA!

Go Suns!!!

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Mori Chu
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Mori Chu »

Ayton probably can't quite replicate his monster performance from Game 1 every night, and Anthony Davis likely won't have another game as bad as his Game 1 numbers. So I'm hoping our wings can come through and help out with the scoring load. If two of Bridges-Cam Johnson-Crowder are "on," we're nearly unstoppable IMO.

Also curious to see the state Chris Paul is in. Kudos to him for gutting out the rest of Game 1 despite being clearly hurt, but if that's how he's going to play the rest of the series, we may need to cut back his minutes and give more time to Payne and Moore.

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jonh
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by jonh »

Mori Chu wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 7:11 am
Ayton probably can't quite replicate his monster performance from Game 1 every night, and Anthony Davis likely won't have another game as bad as his Game 1 numbers. So I'm hoping our wings can come through and help out with the scoring load. If two of Bridges-Cam Johnson-Crowder are "on," we're nearly unstoppable IMO.

Also curious to see the state Chris Paul is in. Kudos to him for gutting out the rest of Game 1 despite being clearly hurt, but if that's how he's going to play the rest of the series, we may need to cut back his minutes and give more time to Payne and Moore.
Agreed--I think this next game will provide a lot of information about how game-ready Lebron and Davis the Lakers actually are, as well as how concerned we should be about Paul's injury moving forward.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by ShelC »

I'm fine with DA so long as he's active and engaged. I don't need the #s if he's boxing out and his teammates are grabbing the boards and he's disrupting shots in the paint. I fully expect the refs to take him out of a game sooner than later so he's got to be aware early in the game to watch out for touch fouls.

I'd also like to see CP take and make a jumper early in the game, just to get into the Lakers' heads a bit that he's OK and still a threat to score. If they end up daring him to shoot and he's putting up airballs because he can't feel/lift his arm, we're going to have to decide what to do with him at that point.

I can't count LBJ and AD out of any series but there were times LBJ looked a bit slower, tired and disengaged. He looked a little like he knew he was seeing a younger, hungrier team that wasn't shaken or in awe of him or the Lakers and this wasn't going to be a team he could just show up against and beat. Now, he may put up 40-15-10 tomorrow and get a W and everyone will forget Game 1 but I do think yesterday he started looking his age in relation to our younger guys.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Mori Chu »

ShelC wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 9:47 am
I'm fine with DA so long as he's active and engaged. I don't need the #s if he's boxing out and his teammates are grabbing the boards and he's disrupting shots in the paint. I fully expect the refs to take him out of a game sooner than later so he's got to be aware early in the game to watch out for touch fouls.

I'd also like to see CP take and make a jumper early in the game, just to get into the Lakers' heads a bit that he's OK and still a threat to score. If they end up daring him to shoot and he's putting up airballs because he can't feel/lift his arm, we're going to have to decide what to do with him at that point.

I can't count LBJ and AD out of any series but there were times LBJ looked a bit slower, tired and disengaged. He looked a little like he knew he was seeing a younger, hungrier team that wasn't shaken or in awe of him or the Lakers and this wasn't going to be a team he could just show up against and beat. Now, he may put up 40-15-10 tomorrow and get a W and everyone will forget Game 1 but I do think yesterday he started looking his age in relation to our younger guys.
I also loved watching Bridges defend Lebron. Obviously nobody can shut Lebron down, but I just love having a long and athletic SF who can get in Lebron's face and make things hard for him. Bridges didn't have great offensive numbers but I thought his effort and defense were a big factor for us.

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Nodack
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Nodack »

I think you are right. Lebron can flip that switch and dominate at times. He just can’t do it as much anymore. He’s like a cell phone battery. They only have so many charges and each charge lasts just a little bit less each time before it’s time to buy a new cell phone.

AD seems like he dominates or has a crappy game. Make sure he doesn’t get it going early on and maybe he doesn’t come back from it. He will be extra pissed off and will want to dominate Tuesday. Somehow use that against him.

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JeremyG
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by JeremyG »

If Paul's injury really was just a stinger and he didn't worsen it by returning to the game, then he should be fine by Tuesday. If so, expect him to have a much bigger impact on the game. If our wings can shoot better and Paul can have a big game, we may be able to overcome a better Lakers effort, even if Booker and Ayton don't have quite the monster games they had in game 1.
"I'm a Deandre Ayton guy."--Al McCoy, September 21, 2022.

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Nodack
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Nodack »

I remember Ayton having that stinger issue recently and he was back in action right away. Hopefully it’s similar.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by LVSunsFAN »

jonh wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 9:14 am
Mori Chu wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 7:11 am
Ayton probably can't quite replicate his monster performance from Game 1 every night, and Anthony Davis likely won't have another game as bad as his Game 1 numbers. So I'm hoping our wings can come through and help out with the scoring load. If two of Bridges-Cam Johnson-Crowder are "on," we're nearly unstoppable IMO.

Also curious to see the state Chris Paul is in. Kudos to him for gutting out the rest of Game 1 despite being clearly hurt, but if that's how he's going to play the rest of the series, we may need to cut back his minutes and give more time to Payne and Moore.
Agreed--I think this next game will provide a lot of information about how game-ready Lebron and Davis the Lakers actually are, as well as how concerned we should be about Paul's injury moving forward.
IF CP3 is close to 100% I think this next game will provide a lot of information about how game-ready Booker, Ayton and the Suns actually are. We had a huge distraction and chemistry disturbance with the CP3 situation and STILL dominated.
Booker is obviously ready, and I'm not worried about him repeating that performance. They doubled and he still delivered big-time. We've seen Ayton follow greatness with mediocre games though. Will the enormity of being in the playoffs be enough for him to dial it up that intensity for the entire run? Dario didn't exactly impress me, in short we haven't even seen the Suns at their best for a full game.

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Superbone
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Superbone »

JeremyG wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:01 am
If Paul's injury really was just a stinger and he didn't worsen it by returning to the game, then he should be fine by Tuesday. If so, expect him to have a much bigger impact on the game. If our wings can shoot better and Paul can have a big game, we may be able to overcome a better Lakers effort, even if Booker and Ayton don't have quite the monster games they had in game 1.
We are going to have to score more points in Game 2, I'm pretty sure. But the beauty of this team is that they can win under 100 games and they can win 120-116 type games too.
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ShelC
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by ShelC »

Yea good call, DA did have that shoulder stinger too. Looking back, he initially got hit in mid April and stayed in the game but got hit in the same spot a few weeks later that took him out of the game. Hopefully this isn't a recurring thing for Paul as things get more physical.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Superbone »

ShelC wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:26 am
Yea good call, DA did have that shoulder stinger too. Looking back, he initially got hit in mid April and stayed in the game but got hit in the same spot a few weeks later that took him out of the game. Hopefully this isn't a recurring thing for Paul as things get more physical.
I'm still a little confused on when the actual damage happened. LeBron hit his Paul's shoulder with his body and then Paul's head glanced off Cam Johnson. I guess it wasn't until his head hit Johnson that he reacted so vehemently.
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by JeremyG »

Superbone wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:30 am
ShelC wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:26 am
Yea good call, DA did have that shoulder stinger too. Looking back, he initially got hit in mid April and stayed in the game but got hit in the same spot a few weeks later that took him out of the game. Hopefully this isn't a recurring thing for Paul as things get more physical.
I'm still a little confused on when the actual damage happened. LeBron hit his Paul's shoulder with his body and then Paul's head glanced off Cam Johnson. I guess it wasn't until his head hit Johnson that he reacted so vehemently.
If you look at the angle at 0:43 here (hit the "slow" button) it looks like LeBron barely touches his shoulder if at all: https://www.nba.com/watch/video/game-re ... ame-recaps
"I'm a Deandre Ayton guy."--Al McCoy, September 21, 2022.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Indy »

One issue with how well (and how much) Booker got to handle the ball yesterday--The Lakers got a lot of film on how Book is handling double teams, how he is reading the Lakers defense, and what decisions he is making. I think that could lead to a lot of double team stunts, or even educated guesses on which passing lanes to jump during Game 2. It could lead to a lot of TOs/bad passes for Book.

And for how great we all feel, we still haven't done anything more than we were supposed to do.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Drewsprocket »

Everyone catching fire is gonna have to be in the mix for winning at least 1 game. Book will have one game where he can’t shake loose. Running the same play just wont work for the rest of the series.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Superbone »

JeremyG wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:48 am
Superbone wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:30 am
ShelC wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:26 am
Yea good call, DA did have that shoulder stinger too. Looking back, he initially got hit in mid April and stayed in the game but got hit in the same spot a few weeks later that took him out of the game. Hopefully this isn't a recurring thing for Paul as things get more physical.
I'm still a little confused on when the actual damage happened. LeBron hit his Paul's shoulder with his body and then Paul's head glanced off Cam Johnson. I guess it wasn't until his head hit Johnson that he reacted so vehemently.
If you look at the angle at 0:43 here (hit the "slow" button) it looks like LeBron barely touches his shoulder if at all: https://www.nba.com/watch/video/game-re ... ame-recaps
I don't know about that. Looks like he got bumped in mid air by LeBron and it changed his trajectory towards Cam.
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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Cap »

Indy wrote:
Mon May 24, 2021 11:52 am
One issue with how well (and how much) Booker got to handle the ball yesterday--The Lakers got a lot of film on how Book is handling double teams, how he is reading the Lakers defense, and what decisions he is making. I think that could lead to a lot of double team stunts, or even educated guesses on which passing lanes to jump during Game 2. It could lead to a lot of TOs/bad passes for Book.

And for how great we all feel, we still haven't done anything more than we were supposed to do.
If winning at home is what you’re supposed to do and everybody does what they’re supposed to from now on, we’re the champs. ;)

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Superbone »

"Be Legendary."

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by JeremyG »

"I'm a Deandre Ayton guy."--Al McCoy, September 21, 2022.

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Re: Game Day Playoff Edition: Lakers (0-1) @ Suns (1-0), Tues 5/25/21

Post by Nodack »

Monty Williams said #Suns had short walkthrough, Chris Paul was doing some dribbling, isn't as sore as he was yesterday, but wasn't ready to confirm whether Paul will play tomorrow.

Keep them guessing.

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