Western Conference Round 1, Game 2: Clippers (1-0) @ Suns (0-1), Tues 4/18/23

[JeremyG]

Here's a fun game I just made up. Let's see how many guys combined counting stats exceeds their 2022-23 salary. Minimum of 16 minutes played to be eligible.

Game 1, for example.

Durant: 26pt, 11ast, 9reb, 1stl, 2blk for a total of 49, which is more than his $46M salary. Pass
Booker: 37, $36M. Pass
Ayton: 25, $32M. Fail
Paul: 30, $30M. ($30.8M, but I won't round up on the old guy. ) Push
Craig: 28, $6M. Pass
Shamet: 7, $10M. Fail

Game 2

Durant: 39, $46M. Fail
Booker: 49, $36M. Pass
Ayton: 27, $32M. Fail
Paul: 30, $30M. Push
Craig: 24, $6M. Pass

No other Suns player hit 16 minutes, but both Okogie and Biz were at 15 so just for fun..

Okogie: 12, $2M. Pass
Biyombo: 16, $2M. Pass

You're using next season's salaries not this year's.

[Flagrant Fowl]

Here's a fun game I just made up. Let's see how many guys combined counting stats exceeds their 2022-23 salary. Minimum of 16 minutes played to be eligible.

Game 1, for example.

Durant: 26pt, 11ast, 9reb, 1stl, 2blk for a total of 49, which is more than his $43M salary. Pass
Booker: 37, $34M. Pass
Ayton: 25, $31M. Fail
Paul: 30, $28M. Pass
Craig: 28, $5M. Pass
Shamet: 7, $9M. Fail

Game 2

Durant: 39, $43M. Fail
Booker: 49, $34M. Pass
Ayton: 27, $30M. Fail
Paul: 30, $28M. Pass
Craig: 24, $5M. Pass

No other Suns player hit 16 minutes, but both Okogie and Biz were at 15 so just for fun..

Okogie: 12, $2M. Pass
Biyombo: 16, $2M. Pass

You're using next season's salaries not this year's.

Thanks! I fixed it.

[JeremyG]

[Flagrant Fowl]

Shout out to @cuzznkamm and @Anonhottakes!

[JeremyG]

I don’t give a flying freak what someone’s username is if they make a good point, but joke’s on you because Kam has a large Suns fandom following (6k followers).

[Superbone]

[Superbone]

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[carey]

Super glad we won last night. I fell asleep in the 2nd half because I'm old & work early. Booker and Durant had to play 45 & 44 min respectively to do it tho. If that's every game they will wear us down and win in 6 or 7.

[Mori Chu]

Great win. Saved our playoffs in a must-win game. Basically all 5 of our starters had great games, headlined by Book's 38 and 9, but Ayton was also great, CP3 had a throwback game, KD was his usual scoring machine, and Craig continues to thrive in this series as a starter. Okogie and Biz gave decent contributions off the bench. Glad Coach Monty tried running Lee for a few minutes, but he got yanked before he could do much. I hope Payne comes back for Game 3.

I am worried about the minutes, though. KD played 44 and Book 45. At this rate we're just asking for an injury. And CP3's hand looked hurt.

Clips have played extremely well these past 2 games, but in both cases they've had to rely a bit too much on Russell Westbrook for offense, which is never what you want. I worry that their role players will play better at home, guys like Powell, Batum, Mann. And Eric Gordon is already hitting like 70% on 3s for the series so far. These next 2 games will be tough. Got to get a split in LA.

https://www.espn.com/nba/boxscore/_/gameId/401541170

[ShelC]

Glad we saw things start to click last night. The run at the end of the 1st half got us rolling and thankfully it carried over. Crazy how things just flipped around because most of that first half was like the end of the Mavs series where we looked defeated and disinterested.

Loved seeing Book and KD go to work. Both of them were unguardable and both guys seemed to figure out the scheme and defenses being throw at them. We were attacking early and played more decisively instead of letting their defense and physicality set the tone. Sometimes you just gotta get them the ball and get out of the way. The defensive effort picked up too and Book's been a monster on that end. Even KD's presence around the basket has been a huge difference.

We needed other guys to hit shots so it was great to see vintage CP taking over and having Craig hit all those 3s - but can we rely on them night in and night out? I still think Okogie should be interchangeable with TC. Not sure why Monty's all of a sudden so cold on him unless there's something he's not getting or doing right in practice. The other guys (TJ, DLee) got spot minutes just to give KD and Book a breather but Monty's gotta find a reliable rotation because KD and Book playing entires games just isn't sustainable.

Nice minutes from Biz and he and CP seem to have good chemistry in the PnR which is important for CP.

Great seeing DA hit those shots but the Clips were scheming to have him and TC get those open looks. I'd still want him to be aggressive and take it to the basket, or look for cutters if the Clips send a double to try and mix things up on him.

Wasn't super crazy about the smallball lineup. I like the idea but it's not there yet and I'd rather see Jock out there against Plumlee than KD matching up with him. Also think DLee could be the shooter we need if we're running Book and KD at point with no CP out there.

[LVSunsFAN]

Hard to imagine monster games again by both Leonard and Westbrook Thursday AND Saturday, something's got to give with 4 games in 6 1/2 days.
If one of them lets up for even one game we should regain the home court advantage.

[Superbone]

Super glad we won last night. I fell asleep in the 2nd half because I'm old & work early. Booker and Durant had to play 45 & 44 min respectively to do it tho. If that's every game they will wear us down and win in 6 or 7.

You're not old, pal.

[Superbone]

Just have to win one of two in LA now. I vote for the first one and then get greedy and get the second one too.

[wpmiller42]

Just have to win one of two in LA now. I vote for the first one and then get greedy and get the second one too.

Absolutely, I expect Kawhi and Westbrook to consistently play big roles, but I think the more game pressure we can put on guys like Gordon and Powell, the better off we're going to be.

[wpmiller42]

And please someone guard Gordon from the 3-point line in the first quarter...

[Mori Chu]

Hard to imagine monster games again by both Leonard and Westbrook Thursday AND Saturday, something's got to give with 4 games in 6 1/2 days.
If one of them lets up for even one game we should regain the home court advantage.

Honestly I think we very well might keep seeing good Kawhi and good Westbrook in the next 2 games. I'm more worried about the Clips depth and role players. Those kinds of guys play much better at home typically. And our role players will probably tighten up a bit on the road. I worry that we have basically needed 18-20 ppg from Torrey Craig to hang with the Clippers and that we won't be able to rely on that every game. We're also older and more likely to wear out from these games every 2 days. Next 2 games will be huge.

[Drewsprocket]

The bench did there job of not losing the game. And im stoked that our starters looked like they know how to play together for the first time. That 8-0 run with KD in the regular season never looked solid.
Hopefully they can build on this win.

[Shabazz]

I agree with all of those who are concerned about KD and DB’s minutes load. That’s not at all sustainable, especially with the energy Booker is expending. As rough as our bench has been, Monty is going to have to come up with a rotation that staggers our best players without overtaxing them.

Put another way, he’s probably going to have to have a longer leash with the TJ Warren-types.

[TOO]

I don't see why it's not sustainable. Dudes used to play 40mins with regularity, and it's not like any of these dudes played a full season. They should be just fine.