The alarming sign that Ayton is back in his shell: He wasn't finishing his screens and was actually stepping back on them in an effort to avoid contact. If you want to point the finger at any player mentally, point it at Ayton.
Yes, Booker had the error in the end, but he also pretty much single-handedly kept the team in the game until then.
And if you don't realize the obvious physical issues with Paul, I don't know what to say. He literally couldn't lift his shooting arm, which was causing all sorts of problems on both ends of the court. It was literally hanging Dead at his side most of the game...to the point where I was wondering if he reaggravated his shoulder injury as well as the ligament tear flaring up. If you want to point the finger at anyone for Paul's play, point it at Monty for playing him so much when he isn't even at 25%.
The biggest mystery from tonight's game other than Monty's failure to call time-out down 1 with the ball and 30 seconds to go, at least to me, is why Bridges and Craig, despite being by far the best defenders in the first quarter, hardly saw any playing time afterward.
Monty's rotations have been strange, to say the least.
Great run overall this postseason, but Monty and James Jones (not bringing in any big other than Saric and Kaminsky) appear to have left a championship on the table with some pretty basic blunders.
