Western Conference Round 1, Game 5: Clippers (1-3) @ Suns (3-1), Tues 4/25/23

[Superbone]

Books cooooooooking!

Uh, oh. Cooking the books.

[Superbone]

No shamet!

At least he finally scored again with a 3.

[Superbone]

Booker is the best Suns player of all time

Well, he did pass Barkley today for most 30 point playoff games and 40 point playoff games.

[Superbone]

Book would easily drop 50+ tonight if the game was close…he might not play much in the 4th

Uh...about that.

[Superbone]

Need to put their foot on their throat

Uh...yeah...

[Superbone]

I tune back in after the huge 3Q and the Clips come out looking better. It's like they know I'm watching.

So it's YOUR fault!

[Superbone]

Can't start celebrating too early.

The fat lady was warming up but then went back to the dressing room.

[Superbone]

If we lose. It’s completely on Monty for bringing in Shamet.

Well, I guess the answer in the future is more Shamet then.

[Superbone]

Be nice if we had a player like Kevin Durant

We'd have to give up too much for him.

[Superbone]

The Suns got cute and started playing against the clock while the Clippers suddenly couldn't miss a 3-pointer. It would've been a ridiculous collapse, but I don't think it's much to worry about going forward.

Let's just hope they learn from it.

[Aztec Sunsfan]

What a roller coaster… from close game… to Clippers imposing their will. to unstoppable nuclear explosion… then almost nuclear meltdown… to KD finally closing out over the last minute…

I hope the next round this team finally gels, because Denver is no joke, and will sweep us if Ayton keeps this level of effort and KD keeps on his “special appearances just to get 30” show. Booker has been amazing but we need him fresh and healthy for the latter rounds if Suns are going to win the championship.

Great to see vintage Paul in the house, I love the guy spirit and is sad to look him overwhelmed without his jumper falling in. Vintage Paul is all we need to become unstoppable if KD and Booker deliver just average performances, I’m not counting on Ayton at this point and whatever the outcome, I hope the team ships him out for true players, he is just an athletic guy living off his body that already got paid. KD and CP3 are more willing to risk their old bodies than the youngest, biggest and strongest guy from the core four.

[Mori Chu]

Book was sensational. KD is so amazing, the guy can have a "quiet" 30-point outing like it's nothing. Such a gifted scorer. I don't think the Suns did a bad job including him in the offense. The Clips put a lot of defensive emphasis on him; he was often double-teamed or fronted, making it hard to get him the ball. I think the Suns mostly took the open shots available to them, and Book had much more conventional coverage on him for most of the game, so it made sense to give Book the most of the shots.

I know Craig had some really nice games starting in this series, but I think I just like what Okogie does more. I want us to go back to starting Okogie and giving him heavy minutes. He is an exceptional defender, and I love his nose for the ball. He often manages to grab rebounds or loose balls in traffic and I'm frequently surprised when he'll come away with the ball despite being next to a taller opponent. And he's savvy about attacking the basket, seeking contact, drawing fouls. Makes the right play. He's great.

Shamet was horrendous in this entire playoff series. Please play Lee his minutes. All of them.

Cam Payne came back and it barely merited a word here in the thread. He basically did nothing. Didn't seem quite ready for prime time yet; looked a little lost. I hope he can get his mojo back for the next series.

Hats off to the Clippers for making the series more competitive than it had any right to be. They would be absolutely terrifying if they had all their guys healthy. But they never do, and that's how they are every year. Not sure what they should do in the offseason. I guess re-sign Westbrook? But I don't think he plays nearly so well if you put PG13 and Kawhi back on the team. Given that those two are almost certain to face injuries again, you may as well keep Westbrook to be the backup star.

Glad we have 3 full days off. We need them after those crazy minutes for Book and KD. I really hope the guys can recharge and stay healthy. If we're healthy I think we have a really good chance against the Nuggets.

[Mori Chu]

[ShelC]

Postgame Quotes and Videos

Spoiler: show/hide

[Flagrant Fowl]

Game 1

Durant: 26pt, 11ast, 9reb, 1stl, 2blk for a total of 49, which is more than his $44M 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, $44M. Fail
Booker: 49, $34M. Pass
Ayton: 27, $31M. 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

Game 3

Durant: 41, $44M. Fail
Booker: 59, $34M. Pass
Ayton: 24, $31M. Fail
Paul: 28, $28M. Push
Craig: 21, $5M. Pass
Okogie: 16, $2M. Pass

Game 4

Durant: 48, $44M. Pass
Booker: 49, $34M. Pass
Ayton: 33, $31M. Pass (WOOHOO!!!)
Paul: 38, $28M. Pass
Craig: 14, $5M. Pass
Okogie: 12, 2M. Pass

Game 5

Durant: 43, $44M. Fail
Booker: 67 , $34M. Pass
Ayton: 35, $31M. Pass
Paul: 29, $28M. Pass
Craig: 2, $5M. Fail
Okogie: 18, $2M. Pass

Series Results

Durant: 2-3
Booker: 5-0
Ayton: 2-3
Paul: 3-0-1
Craig: 4-1
Okogie: 4-0
Biyombo: 1-0
Shamet: 0-1

[ShelC]

Glad we were able to close it out and get rid of the Clips, especially with the Nuggets closing out their series. Wish we'd have held that lead but we f-ked around and let the Clips back in it. Jacking 3s for three straight possessions just isn't like us and can't happen in today's game when 20pt leads mean nothing. Pretty uncharacteristic for the team and they definitely lost focus during that Clips run.

Not much more you can say about Book. They had no answer for him the entire series. We need to do a better job of getting the ball to KD, can't have "the others" taking 4th quarter shots or trying to make plays down the stretch. I think we sometimes forget he's on the floor, especially when Book is carrying the team like he was. Generally, I think the composition of the team and the offense will be re-worked in the offseason to take better advantage of KD, but that's a different conversation.

Best DA game of the series. Glad he woke up a bit and KD may be unlocking something with DA on the PnR.

I think we can all agree Shamet needs to stay benched. He's a major negative out there (despite the +/-) and it's no coincidence that as soon as JO comes in for him the 4th, he seals the game with a steal. Not sure why Lee and TC didn't get some time in the 2nd half/4th. Lee's a little out of control and was fouling a bunch but TC and Okogie need the minutes as 3-D guys.

Also good on Monty for adjusting throughout the series. He finally settled on a smaller rotation and even tho the minutes were heavy on the starters, it got the job done and we have some days off now to rest. I don't know that there's much more to get out of the bench, unless Payne and Ross get it together for us next series. Might just have to ride Book and KD the rest of the way.

[Flagrant Fowl]

I also thought Monty adjusted well for most of the series, excluding his Shamet fetish of course. Moving Craig to the starting lineup was a huge boost and the rotation was solid from game 2 onward. He found the right minutes and matchups for Okogie and even Lee seems to have bounced back a bit.

I was a bit surprised at how little affect Terrance Mann had on the series. He seemed to be deployed primarily as a defensive specialist against KD. Maybe that alone was enough to fill his plate, but I expected him to do a lot more damage offensively. Kawhi, Westbrook, and Powell were really good on the offensive side so maybe the opportunity never really came up. I still think the Clippers would've been better off if Hyland had fewer opportunities than Mann. I'm relieved to not watch Plumlee out hustle everyone around the basket anymore. It's never really pretty with him, but man, that guy doesn't quit.

A lot of us have said it for years now, but Ty Lue is a really difficult to coach to deal with. His team is always exceptionally prepared and they fight for him. The Suns had a massive talent advantage once Kawhi went out with the knee injury, but those other guys kept playing hard and making the Suns earn it. I have a ton of respect for all of them except for one guy that I'm sure you're familiar with.

[carey]

Woke up and watched that 3rd quarter that I missed before work. How fun that must have been in person. You know Book has it cookin' when he starts doing that little bunny hop.

[Split T]

Was this the quietest 28/8/6 series on 52/46/96 shooting? .677 TS% for KD

He just gets his stuff so easily and it still seemed like he struggled at times. Like he could’ve done so much better.

[TOO]

Gonna turn this off, get stoned and watch Jury Duty.

But what about the toddler?

Sleepy time. Big day, first haircut.