Western Conference Round 2, Game 3: Nuggets (2-0) @ Suns (0-2), Fri 5/05/23

[Split T]

TJ was good. Ross wasn't, but didn't do anything to really hurt the team. At least the Nuggets have to respect his shot.

Ross missed his shots, but he won’t get discouraged by a miss. Okogie and Craig need to hit that 1st one.

[Flagrant Fowl]

TJ was good. Ross wasn't, but didn't do anything to really hurt the team. At least the Nuggets have to respect his shot.

Ross missed his shots, but he won’t get discouraged by a miss. Okogie and Craig need to hit that 1st one.

Yes, but why have Ross out there in the first place if he’s going to hesitate? It’s a different approach compared to Craig and Okogie.

[Split T]

Did he hesitate? Felt like he let them fly

[Flagrant Fowl]

He didn’t. I was agreeing with you.

Just a way of emphasizing the different roles and expectations.

[JeremyG]

How many 20-25 games have there been by a guard before in the playoffs??!

[JeremyG]

I kind of think we may see a lineup butchery tonight. Yes, I know that guys like Payne, Shamet, and Okogie aren't giving us much. But I bet they'd almost all play better at home. Throwing guys out there like TJ Warren and Ross who have barely played any minutes in a Suns uniform smacks of desperation IMO. I think one of the biggest "adjustments" we can benefit from in this game is just playing on our home floor in front of our own fans. I think I would stick with Okogie, Lee, and Payne for most of our guard minutes tonight, and I don't think I would go with TJ Warren. Maybe a bit of Ross if needed, but I worry a lot about his defense. The 4 point bench night was an anomaly; solve it with better ball movement, screens, motion, not by undermining everybody's confidence and completely upending the rotation.

How about now?

[Nodack]

Needed that one. Freaking Booker and Durant! The bench showed up too. Landale playing some manly minutes. Payne speeding things up and putting his own pressure on the defense. Monty going with Warren and Ross was a welcome site. I thought after Warren missed a couple that he would be pulled. Monty stuck with him and he got his rhythm. Durant once again couldn’t hit his outside shots and decided to take it to the hole where he dominated inside. Booker hit a ridiculous 20/25 and has been absolutely on fire on both ends these playoffs. And Ayton, his uniform looked comfortable.

[JeremyG]

Sauce, can you at least admit Landale is having a decent game. Lmao.

He's been leaps and bounds better than Max C. Just ya know, out there trying.

My hope is the pacers still want him. Trade him for McConnell, Jalen Smith and the 7th pick and draft Gradey Dick. God dick would be so nice. Get Dick on this team!

Lol that trade is literally not allowed under league rules.

[JeremyG]

I CANNOT WAIT to see Jeremy spin this Ayton performance.

1. Not a great game from Ayton.

2. A few hustle/energy plays, but at times not enough energy/force from DA.

3. A couple of dumb plays (which of course get magnified by the fans/media).

4. Rebounding was fine, 9 rebounds in under 26 minutes.

5. Still played Jokic tough defensively.

6. He was fouled on most of his missed shots but did not get the calls, and had bad calls go against him for foul trouble again.

7. Did not get enough looks, especially early in the game they need to get him involved offensively and that usually gets him going. They are going to need him offensively in order to win this series, especially with CP3 injured, as Booker+Durant doing it all is not sustainable, which leads me to my final point...

8. Stupid move by Monty to bench Ayton the last five minutes. Not only did it almost cost us the game with dumb plays by Jock, but it messes with Ayton's confidence, and like I said we're going to need him to win this series since Booker and KD cannot carry us by themselves for 4 out of 5 games. It might not have even been enough in this game if not for a couple of buckets by TJ in the clutch.

[Flagrant Fowl]

As delusional as expected.

[Wally_West]

Sauce, can you at least admit Landale is having a decent game. Lmao.

He's been leaps and bounds better than Max C. Just ya know, out there trying.

My hope is the pacers still want him. Trade him for McConnell, Jalen Smith and the 7th pick and draft Gradey Dick. God dick would be so nice. Get Dick on this team!

Lol that trade is literally not allowed under league rules.

I was making a dick joke.

[Split T]

He didn’t. I was agreeing with you.

Just a way of emphasizing the different roles and expectations.

Gotcha, my bad

[JeremyG]

This one really bugged me…like Ayton either jumps away from the play or he got moved very easily by Murray. Just bad defense.

He was trying to avoid foul trouble. Very obvious there.

[Drewsprocket]

I CANNOT WAIT to see Jeremy spin this Ayton performance.

1. Not a great game from Ayton.

2. A few hustle/energy plays, but at times not enough energy/force from DA.

3. A couple of dumb plays (which of course get magnified by the fans/media).

4. Rebounding was fine, 9 rebounds in under 26 minutes.

5. Still played Jokic tough defensively.

6. He was fouled on most of his missed shots but did not get the calls, and had bad calls go against him for foul trouble again.

7. Did not get enough looks, especially early in the game they need to get him involved offensively and that usually gets him going. They are going to need him offensively in order to win this series, especially with CP3 injured, as Booker+Durant doing it all is not sustainable, which leads me to my final point...

8. Stupid move by Monty to bench Ayton the last five minutes. Not only did it almost cost us the game with dumb plays by Jock, but it messes with Ayton's confidence, and like I said we're going to need him to win this series since Booker and KD cannot carry us by themselves for 4 out of 5 games. It might not have even been enough in this game if not for a couple of buckets by TJ in the clutch.

This has been another Ayton report coming at you live for your Phoenix Deandre Aytons.

[Flagrant Fowl]

4 points and 9 rebounds from your max player.

It's clear to me what our goal needs to be in the off-season. Get away from those two contracts that are dead weights around our neck. (Paul and Ayton)

Who's going to want him? First we missed out on Sabonis. Then we missed out on Turner.

One of the bad organizations, Houston is my guess.

Udoka would probably make Ayton cry by Thanksgiving.

[Split T]

8. Stupid move by Monty to bench Ayton the last five minutes. Not only did it almost cost us the game with dumb plays by Jock, but it messes with Ayton's confidence, and like I said we're going to need him to win this series since Booker and KD cannot carry us by themselves for 4 out of 5 games. It might not have even been enough in this game if not for a couple of buckets by TJ in the clutch.

Ayton made two really bad plays right before he got pulled. He didn’t have it today. Ya Jock did also make a bad play almost immediately, but Ayton wasn’t doing anything tonight. His 1on1 defense against Jokic in the post has been fine. No issues there, but Murray cooked him quite a few times.

I think not benching him sends the wrong message that his play was ok. Maybe it hurts his confidence, but you can’t tell me that he played with as much energy as Jock. Go at least play hard like Jock if you wanna play.

[Drewsprocket]

Glad to see TJ knock down some shots there. I hope that got him a rhythm for next game. It makes a difference having bucket getters.

[Split T]

This one really bugged me…like Ayton either jumps away from the play or he got moved very easily by Murray. Just bad defense.

He was trying to avoid foul trouble. Very obvious there.

Meh, he’s got 3 fouls at this point. That’s is not acceptable defense with 3 fouls.

[Drewsprocket]

8. Stupid move by Monty to bench Ayton the last five minutes. Not only did it almost cost us the game with dumb plays by Jock, but it messes with Ayton's confidence, and like I said we're going to need him to win this series since Booker and KD cannot carry us by themselves for 4 out of 5 games. It might not have even been enough in this game if not for a couple of buckets by TJ in the clutch.

Ayton made two really bad plays right before he got pulled. He didn’t have it today. Ya Jock did also make a bad play almost immediately, but Ayton wasn’t doing anything tonight. His 1on1 defense against Jokic in the post has been fine. No issues there, but Murray cooked him quite a few times.

I think not benching him sends the wrong message that his play was ok. Maybe it hurts his confidence, but you can’t tell me that he played with as much energy as Jock. Go at least play hard like Jock if you wanna play.

He cooked his own confidence never developing past his scouting report from two years ago. Everyone knows to knock the ball out of his hands, sit on his right shoulder, get him to put the ball on the floor.

[Wally_West]