Game Day, Playoff Edition — WCF: Game 6 — Phoenix Suns @ LA Clippers, Wed 6/30/2021

[Superbone]

Time: 6:00 pm AZ (6:00 pm PT/9:00 pm ET)
Place: Staples Center, Los Angeles, CA
TV: ESPN

No more messing around. This Suns team needs to get serious or they're in big trouble. We can't play with fire. We need to take Game 6 and FINISH THEM!

Go Suns!!!

Dis • cuss

[pickle]

Game 5 has me seething and being mean to my daughter. Please finish this series. It’s making me a terrible person.

[Superbone]

Game 5 has me seething and being mean to my daughter. Please finish this series. It’s making me a terrible person.

Please don't take it out on your daughter! I had to take matters into my own hands and start this thread as soon as possible so I could move on from the very disappointing Game 5.

[pickle]

I didn’t. I’m just being a bit more short tempered than usual. But you are right of course. She doesn’t deserve any of this. Let’s pull our heads out of our collective asses.

I can’t stand the national media glorifying that push off from PG13 as him having made CP3 stumble. At one point I cringed at the crowd chanting beat LA at the clippers, thinking that the chant should be reserved for the Lakers. But I see that the big market bias is real. Fuck LA. Fuck the media. Fuck JVG and Marc Jackson.

[iLLmatic]

Why would you ever cringe at a beat LA chant? Christ

[Superbone]

I've seen somebody on another board say the same thing. That it should be reserved for the Lakers. I really don't care. This is the Clippers first trip to the WCF. Screw them. We need to win our first ever NBA championship. Whatever it takes.

[pickle]

I just think it’s legitimizing the Clippers for something that they haven’t earned. In the past our teams have rarely been good at the same time so I’ve never felt like the Clippers deserve any hatred from me, lest I dilute my Laker vitriol. But this series has really pissed me off. Their whole attitude, as tho they’ve never made a single foul ever, and the whistles going their way 70% of the time… game 5 wasn’t the worst but there were several memorable ones that would have helped shift the momentum. It was a badly officiated game, not game 2 bad but still bothered me a lot.

[Superbone]

After that flagrant when Beverly danced around like a jester, I really wanted to wipe that silly grin off his face. The Suns showed poise there not to. Book needs to be more aggressive and just go through Beverly. Make the refs call it. Also, his hands are all over Book. Do the Paul side swipe!

[pickle]

After that flagrant when Beverly danced around like a jester, I really wanted to wipe that silly grin off his face. The Suns showed poise there not to. Book needs to be more aggressive and just go through Beverly. Make the refs call it. Also, his hands are all over Book. Do the Paul side swipe!

Absolutely! I was screaming at the TV late in the game.

Also CP3 needs to survey the landscape and take not when the Clipper players stay back to complain and we have a five on four. When we control the pace, going fast is also a type of pace.

[Wally_West]

Fuck it. Used the speed force and looked ahead. I’m so confident the Suns win this that I’m gonna post this now. Fuck the Clippers.

[JeremyG]

Some stats to help us feel better:

67.6% of the time, the team up 3-1 wins Game 6 if they lose Game 5.

87.6% of the time, the team up 3-1 wins the series in either 6 or 7 if they lose Game 5.

61.8% of the time, the team up 3-1 wins Game 7 if it goes that far.

[Superbone]

Appreciate those stats, Jeremy. It’s just so frustrating after we’ve looked so good in some games only to look so out of it in this one and have to be fighting from behind all game. We better pull out all the stops on Wednesday. Everybody needs to be better.

[Indy]

CP3 has been AWFUL this series. Our on-off numbers with him are really telling.

[Mori Chu]

CP3 has been AWFUL this series. Our on-off numbers with him are really telling.

Indy, how was being there for that game in person? Was it the gut punch it felt like on TV?

And yes, CP3 has not been himself. He's been sluggish starting our halfcourt offense, his jumper has been mostly off, and we just generally haven't had a potent offense at all. I'm concerned.

[ShelC]

Weird that with as many games as the Clips have played and all their injuries, we've been looking like the tired and worn down team despite being mostly healthy and all the rest we've had. The Clips are beating us up and getting away with most of it.

[LVSunsFAN]

I’ve never felt like the Clippers deserve any hatred from me, lest I dilute my Laker vitriol. But this series has really pissed me off. Their whole attitude, as tho they’ve never made a single foul ever, and the whistles going their way 70% of the time.

If When we show up and dominate like we did in game 6 vs the Lakers and game 4 against Denver, all the Bridges lapses, Crowder's misses, CP3's +/-,
Beverly's Bowenesque dirty plays, Ayton's ball fumbles, biased referees and cringe-worthy turnovers will be instantly forgotten.

Not closing it out in Phoenix sucked tremendously, but it will be very satisfying to eliminate them on their home floor in convincing fashion

[Indy]

CP3 has been AWFUL this series. Our on-off numbers with him are really telling.

Indy, how was being there for that game in person? Was it the gut punch it felt like on TV?

And yes, CP3 has not been himself. He's been sluggish starting our halfcourt offense, his jumper has been mostly off, and we just generally haven't had a potent offense at all. I'm concerned.

I haven't got to the game-day thread yet. I need to find time for that later today.

Energy:
In general, the place was really buzzing. It was pretty loud to start the game. Lots of screaming and cheering and fans taking off their shirts. But that was quelled with how we started the game. And it was like the fans couldn't catch their breath.

That brief 20 second span when we had the lead at 62-61 was the loudest I have ever experienced in an arena. I kind of want to go back and watch the broadcast just to see how Breen/JVG/Jackson could have even been heard during that stretch. It was unreal.

Refs:
I didn't get the benefit of a lot of slo-mo replays, so maybe they got a lot right. But my god it seemed the refs were AWFUL last night. Missed fouls are typical, but there were some blatant ones that were plain to me 14 rows up. And some crazy travels by PG (not to mention his push-offs). And Cousins was fouling Saric on half of his post-ups and they were letting it go. But if Book did that to Beverly it would have been called. That foul on Mikal was bullshit. The number of "Refs you suck" chants where most of the arena participated was probably over 7.

Ayton:
I was extremely disappointed that Ayton didn't seem to be trying at all on the boards or to seal. I lost count of the number of times he had a guard or SF on him and he didn't bother to fight for good position to receive a pass. It was mind-boggling. He had ZERO rebounds through the first quarter, and he played 10 minutes of it. I think it would be hard to be 7 feet tall, and have nobody else close to your size on the court, and not accidentally run into a rebound or two every few minutes. He just seemed so disinterested. I think we need to go back to doubting he will ever be worth a big contract and let him know the entire world doubts him before every single game. That seems to motivate him more than Chris Paul or Monty can.

Overall:
I didn't feel it as a gut punch. It was worrisome that we couldn't take advantage of the extreme Ayton mismatch. And it was really worrisome that I was so happy every time I heard Chris Paul was leaving the game. That all felt weird, more than a gut punch. But this Clippers team is really good, and very similar to us, and surprisingly well-coached. I don't want to admit it, but I can see us easily losing in L.A. and having a very hard time finding our groove in a game 7.

[virtual9mm]

The Suns started to believe their own hype. And they forgot the reality of it. They're still less experienced and less talented than some of the other teams around. The reason they were winning convincingly was because they worked harder and they worked together.

Will this be enough for them to get their heads out of their asses? I'd think so but I'm not sure. And the Clips will play hard -- every play.

I really think that they should send a statement by having Kaminsky just level Beverly with the intent to harm. He's been trying to hurt Suns players and the league hasn't done anything about it. The Suns should.

[ShelC]

Refs:
I didn't get the benefit of a lot of slo-mo replays, so maybe they got a lot right. But my god it seemed the refs were AWFUL last night. Missed fouls are typical, but there were some blatant ones that were plain to me 14 rows up. And some crazy travels by PG (not to mention his push-offs). And Cousins was fouling Saric on half of his post-ups and they were letting it go. But if Book did that to Beverly it would have been called. That foul on Mikal was bullshit. The number of "Refs you suck" chants where most of the arena participated was probably over 7.

How about PG up in Cam's space, Cam swings thru and gets him with an elbow which they review and call a flagrant. Problem is PG did the same thing to Crowder in Game 3 (i think?) and nothing was called.

[Indy]

Refs:
I didn't get the benefit of a lot of slo-mo replays, so maybe they got a lot right. But my god it seemed the refs were AWFUL last night. Missed fouls are typical, but there were some blatant ones that were plain to me 14 rows up. And some crazy travels by PG (not to mention his push-offs). And Cousins was fouling Saric on half of his post-ups and they were letting it go. But if Book did that to Beverly it would have been called. That foul on Mikal was bullshit. The number of "Refs you suck" chants where most of the arena participated was probably over 7.

How about PG up in Cam's space, Cam swings thru and gets him with an elbow which they review and call a flagrant. Problem is PG did the same thing to Crowder in Game 3 (i think?) and nothing was called.

Sorry, that is what I meant when I said the Mikal foul. I should have said Cam. He has been great this series. Shooting 53% from 3 on over 3 attempts per game. Been really happy with him.